Whatever Happened to Rose?
by KHansen
Summary: Doomsday never happened, but the Doctor left Rose on a street corner in London to keep her safe. He still when adventuring with his other companions (Martha, Donna, Amy and Rory, Clara). When they are reunited, what has happened since he made his mistake? And how will his actions affect the girl he loves? Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Doctor: August 4, 2012

The TARDIS, with it's wonderful whirring sound, touched down in modern day London. We landed with a bit of a jostle, and a horrendous _thunk_. The TARDIS blinks it's disapproval, and I sigh. A sigh of time, a long held sigh. I am an old man. 1,300 years old. It's really quite old, even for a timelord like myself. _The last one_, I think. I rub my eyes, drag a hand through my hair, and look down at my clothing. It is what I normally wear. A tweed jacket, patches on the elbows; button-down shirt; red suspenders; dark skinny jeans; dress shoes; and the ever present bow-tie, today's is red. I look at myself in my reflection on the TARDIS display unit, seeing slight age around my eyes and mouth; hair starting,_ just barely _starting, to recede into my temples. My eyes are old, very, very old. Devastation and hope, happiness and rage, emptiness and fullness, all present in the tired brown eyes I call my own. No matter how many times I regenerate, these eyes are always the same. I could be as young as a toddler and these eyes would hold emotions beyond my outward age.

I sigh again, grabbing my sonic screwdriver, ever present on my person, and my psychic paper and walk towards the doors. There is a loud _smack! _on the side of the TARDIS, as though someone had run into it. Concern etches itself upon my face, and I hurry to the doors. I peer through the dusty window and see the outline of a woman, wearing blue, with straight blonde hair. _I know that hair anywhere. Haha that rhymed._ I thought to myself. _Rose_.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Rose: August 4, 2012 4:09 PM

I'm dashing, running madly towards the sound of the TARDIS. I sprint around a corner, running down the street, following that beautiful noise. It's been several years since I last saw the Doctor. Although it may be significantly more for him. I am now 25 years old, and hating every minute of it. Pain jolts up my right leg with every step I take, my breathing ragged in my hurting chest. But I don't stop running. I cut through a corner park, across the grass, avoiding another sharp turn. I wonder how he might have changed. I still love him, I really do. But that love is why I allowed him to leave me behind. Because I knew that he would hate himself if I got hurt or died. I didn't mind the risk, but he did. So he left me. And I cried, for days and days, hating myself for letting him leave, but relishing the fact that he did it because, though he hadn't said it, he loved me too. I have no idea if that's true anymore, but it's worth the risk.

I'm so caught up in my thoughts that I don't see the TARDIS materialize in front of me. I run into the doors and bounce backwards, falling, and landing on my bum. My palms are scraped, wherever the ground could touch them, but that's the least of my problems. I see a head come up to the dusty window, and peer out. I stumble ungracefully to my feet, or foot, as the other is screaming in pain. A fire running up my leg. I am sweaty, sticky, flushed, my hair in disarray, but I don't care because I'm going to see him again. _Him_ such a generic term, used to describe such a wonderful man. He holds himself back, with all his moping and reminiscing. He should really just accept that, even if he can travel in time, the past is the past, and there is nothing he can do about it. The Time War is a fixed point in time, unavoidable. The door creaks open, and a man sticks his head out.

I stand, blinking in shock, staring at a tall, thin man with dark brown hair, artfully swept to the side. He is wearing a tweed jacket, a button-down shirt, suspenders _(suspenders?)_ and, a bow-tie? A red one at that. He wears skinny jeans and dress shoes, but the thing that startles me most is the age that lines his face. There are laugh lines at the corners of his eyes, and smile lines around his mouth, but there are deep worry lines in his forehead as well, furrowed in concern. But the eyes, the inescapably old, wise, dangerous eyes. That perpetually hold a glint of mischief, of sorrow, of pain. Of happiness, of joy, of love, of age. They hold danger, and rage, hope and heroism. Concern, worry, anxiety, all separate in his eyes. And they are my eyes. My Doctor's eyes, in a different man's face. Mind you, they're a bit older, but they're my eyes.

I stand, shocked into a stupor. I shake my head quickly to wake myself up.

"Rose-" he begins to say.

"You've done it again, haven't you?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Doctor: August 4, 2012 4:15 PM

"I don't know what you're talking about." I protest.

"Yes you do, dimwit. You've regenerated. _Again_." She looks disappointed.

"I-" I scramble for words, "You look horrible, Rose"

And she does. Her hair is lank and dirty, she is gaunt and her face is a mix of black and blue. One eye is swollen shut, and her lip is puffed up. What I can see of her arms are all bruised, and her hands are covered with Band-aids. When I step out of the TARDIS, she takes a step backwards, and winces when she puts pressure on her right leg, favouring her left, she smiles. She is missing two teeth, gaping black holes in her beautiful smile. The smile, however, does not reach her eyes. They are bleak and tired, without joy. Agony fills them. Only the faintest glimmer of hope. A sliver of what they used to hold. She is having difficulty breathing, taking quick, shallow breaths that pain her.

I hold out my arms for a hug, and when she embraces me, I hold her gingerly. She looks so fragile. About to break at any second. She takes a quiet but sharp breath of air when I apply a minuscule amount of pressure to her ribs. When I pull back, her eyes are watering. Her clear, brown eyes clouded with pain.

"What happened to you, Rose?" I ask.

She shakes her head, glancing around furtively, then motions towards the TARDIS.

"Can we talk in there?" She inquires.

"Sure, I suppose. Do you mind if I let the TARDIS do a full body scan?"

"No, I guess not." She looks worried.

I open the door and step aside, allowing her first passage. She sweeps by me, her arm brushing gently against my hand, causing fire to shoot up my arm. I feel my face flush, then shake my head to clear it of the naughty thoughts that run around in my skull. She walks with an obvious limp, _step THUMP step THUMP_. I can tell she is trying very hard not to make so much noise, and my hearts break for her.

She is looking around excitedly at the interior of the TARDIS. It is different from the last time she saw it. Her face glows with happiness and awe, judging by how much it illuminates her face, she hasn't felt joy in a long, long time. She reaches the stairs, then sits down heavily on a step.

"You've changed too, beautiful," she says, addressing the TARDIS, "It looks good."

"Now, Rose. Are you going to tell me what has happened to make you look this way?" I ask, desperate to know.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rose: August 4, 2012 4:15 PM

"Are you gonna tell me what happened, Rose?" he asks.

"Yeah, s'pose I should, shouldn't I," I respond, "You getting the TARDIS to do a body scan or what?"

"Yeah." He steps around me, I don't move. I hear him pressing buttons and stuff on the center console. This is what gives me the strength to start talking.

"I'm married." I say. He inhales sharply then makes a sound in the back of his throat, telling me to go on, "Mum and Howard, you know about Howard right? Well mum and Howard got married a few years back, and thought it would be hilariously funny if they hooked me up with Howard's son, Sean."

"Really?"

"No, they just arranged for us to get married because I suppose Sean makes a whole lot of money and doesn't share it with his dad or nothing. So we was married, two years ago? Something like that. And he was sweet and stuff the first six months or whatever, just long enough so that it would be difficult to divorce him. But when those six months were up, he began getting nasty. He started by telling me that dinner had to be ready right when he got home, and whenever that didn't happen, he started yelling. Calling me no good and just a common prostitute. I didn't like it but I put up with it because I told him I would have dinner ready whenever he got home. And that time varied a lot so it was difficult for me to have dinner on the table and still warm when he got home. It wasn't like he ever told me when he was gonna be home. And the one night I order Chinese food instead of cooking him dinner, he went ballistic. Saying he couldn't eat that crap and it would make him ill. Calling me names. Then he slapped me. Right across the face. I remember crying that night because I had thought Sean was nice, and sweet, and funny. The man I married. Then he started adding rules. I had to look presentable for dinner, be ready for houseguests at all times, do only what he wanted me to do, the house needed to be spotless at all times, stuff like that. If I wanted to apply for a job, he had to read my resumé and the job description. He did all this background research on the place and the specifics of what I'd be doing. Then he vetoed it. Every time it was a 'no'. Eventually I just stopped trying to get a job, being a full time housewife. He didn't want to have kids so I didn't have that to distract me, it was awful. Then I started being rebellious. I felt like a teenager again. He wanted to control every aspect of my life. Even my friends and Mickey! He wouldn't allow me to visit. I got lonely and depressed. Then I started to break his rules. I didn't wash my hair and put on makeup. Dinner wasn't ready on time. I visited with other people. And one night when he was yelling at me, I yelled back. I told him I had had enough with his stupid rules and his prevention of my life. I was miserable. I told him what my thoughts on him were and his rules and his control. And he smacked me. He punched me and kicked me. But I refused to cry. The next day I visited mum and Howard and she was concerned. I told her I had slipped and hit my head on a lamppost, but we both knew that was false. It was the middle of Summer. She just wanted to believe it. After that night, Sean just kept hitting me. No matter if I followed all his rules or not. He would say, 'you're breathing to loudly.' And I would hold my breath, 'you're not breathing at all'. Everything I did set him off. Eventually, I just stopped coming home. But, that was even worse see? He would lock me in the cellar for days, without food or water. And he always told me, that if I went to the police with the story, he would kill me. He said he would rather go to jail on murder charges than abuse. And honestly, Doctor? I think being dead would be better than the life I'm living now. I had picked the lock on the cellar doors when I heard the sound of your TARDIS. I just wanted to see you again, honest! I didn't expect to go adventuring again or nothing like that. Because Sean would kill me, figuratively and literally, when I returned. So now you see why I am like this. And now you know. But Sean must never know that you know, alright?" I finish finally, and hear nothing but silence.

I feel like I should apologize for telling him all that when, obviously, he didn't want to hear the whole story when he clears his throat and says, "Do you mind if I do a physical examination of you injuries? I have the TARDIS scanning for internal wounds, not surface ones."

"Sure, whatever you say." I get up heavily, leaning on the stair railing, and applying weight to my left foot. I hobble up the steps and lean against the railing surrounding the platform where the console is. I role up my sleeves and pants and see a dark look pass over his face. I lift my shirt up and his eyes begin to glisten.

"Oh, Rose," he says, "what has he done to you?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Doctor: August 4, 2012 4:30 PM

I gazed at her in horror, of what her husband had done to mottle her skin this way. Her arms are covered in dark splotches, some faded yellow with age. The same with her legs. When she lifted her shirt, I felt myself begin to tear up. He stomach was a patchwork of bruises, and on the right side of her body, her chest was caved in. _A broken rib or two for sure_, I thought. I gently touch her and pain flashes across her face. She is putting all of her weight on her left foot, her legs don't look broken or anything, so it must be that something is wrong with her right foot.

"Can you take your shoes off for me?" I ask carefully.

"Yeah, sure," she mumbles. She beds over, sitting on a bar of the railing, and pulls her left shoe off. Her foot looks as pristine as usual. Then she grasps her right foot, gently but firmly, and begins to slide her shoe off. She makes a small sound of pain from the back of her throat. She's trying not to scream, I can tell. Tears drip from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks, and onto the floor. Dripping through the grating, they fizzle when they touch the hot machinery below our feet.

I start to cry, which doesn't happen often, when she pulls her shoes all the way off. Her foot is smashed in, the top touching the bottom. Poking slightly out of the skin, the bones have bruises surrounding them, as her body tries to heal itself, without the bones being set again. I crouch down in front of her, but don't dare touch her foot for fear that it will hurt her more than she can bear. She's silently sobbing from pain, and my hearts break again. I get back up and look at the monitor, hanging from the ceiling. She glances at her watch, then does a double take. Her face becomes a mask of horror and fear.

She swears, "I have to get home! Sorry, but Sean will be back any minute, and I haven't even started dinner."

"No," I say, in my most authoritative voice, "You need to see a doctor. Go to hospital or something."

"I can't. Hospitals are too expensive. I don't have the money."

"You said Sean made plenty of money."

"He does, he just doesn't give it to me," She shakes her head, "I'm only allowed a certain amount of money a day, for groceries and maybe a new shirt or something if I'm really careful."

"Rose," I say tenderly, "you have to go to a hospital. Your foot can get infected and then you could die."

"I'm sorry, Doctor, but it's too expensive." She starts to put her shoes back on, "I really need to go."

"Before you go, the TARDIS found something." I hesitate.

"Yeah? What did she find?" Rose looks tired, infinitely tired. Old beyond her age.

"The TARDIS believes that you still hold part of the time vortex inside of your head. From traveling in the TARDIS for so long after looking into it."

"Yeah? So? Your point?"

"If you have the time vortex in your head, it makes you a time lord," I tread carefully. I don't want to scare her off, considering the fact that I am telling her that the TARDIS changed her into a time lady.

"What?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Rose: August 4, 2012 4:45 PM

"What?" I say.

"You," he pauses. The suspense is killing me, "Are, goodness this is awkward, a time lady?" He ends it as a question.

"What?" I am dumbstruck. "What do you mean I'm a time lady?"

"It means you're a, erm, girl, female, woman, time… lord…" He looks really awkward.

I start laughing. I double over fromm laughter, even though it hurts like mad, "So, what? Does that mean I get a TARDIS of my own or something?" I'm still laughing, the Doctor looks confused, "Or, wait, wait, I can make a sonic screwdriver? Or even, _regenerate?_" Suddenly, I stop laughing. "What's going to happen Doctor?" I sound uncertain and scared even to my own ears. "If I'm a time _lady_, as you call it, how come I couldn't tell what Sean would become when I married him? Or when he would hit me?" I'm getting angry now, "Or, if time peoples are supposed to be super smart, I couldn't think of a way to defend myself! I couldn't show Sean who's in charge! I couldn't do anything!" I'm shouting, and I know I should stop but I can't.

"Rose-"

"Or, wait! You knew didn't you!" I turn my accusing glare upon him, "You knew I was a freaking time lady, which was why you chucked me off the TARDIS! You discarded me, like I was someone you didn't care about! And we both know that's a load of _rubbish!_ You _left me_! In the middle of London! You didn't even have the courtesy to drop me off at home! I had to walk, home! I had no money, I was thin! I was _afraid!_ And you left me on a street corner! Why? Why would you do that? You have no idea how long I've wanted to ask you that question. _Why did you leave me?_" I can feel the tears falling down my face.

"Rose, I-"

I interrupt him again, "You know what? I don't even want to know anymore. It's obvious you did it because you don't care about me. Except, you're going to say, any minute now, that you did it because you just wanted to keep me safe. I could have kept myself save, Doctor. Or would you prefer, Mr. Smith?" he looks shocked. "Oh, yes. I know all about _John Smith_. The man who picked an inconspicuous name, to be an inconspicuous man. Well, it didn't work. You made the papers every other week! Saving the queen from a giant flying Titanic! Saving Whales from a huge ice-crystal spaceship! And someone told the papers that your name was John Smith. The most common name, anyone has ever heard of. And you were in the papers. For _five years_ I had to look at the papers, every other week, and see _your name _in it. Along with a blurry photo of you. Or a past you I suppose. After two years of that I just ignored the paper. And I don't give a _damn_ about all this anymore! I just wanted to see you. And look where that got me! Being told I was turned into an alien. From prolonged exposure to the time vortex in the cerebral cortex of my brain-" I stop talking.

"Rose, I can explain." He looks desperate.

"How did I know that?" I look at him sharply, "How the hell did I know that? I didn't even finish high school! How, the _hell_ would I know about the flippin' brain and it's functions? Until two minutes ago, I didn't even know what a cerebral cortex is!"

"I told you, Rose," he's speaking quickly, afraid of being cut off again, "Being in the TARDIS, being exposed to the time vortex again, it activated your time lord DNA…" His voice faded, staring at my hands.

"What? What are you loo-" by then I had looked at my hands too, and froze in horror as I saw the ever familiar time vortex flowing out of them. Gold light, flowing and shaping itself around my hands, the sign of regeneration.

"You're… You're regenerating, Rose."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The Doctor: August 4, 2012 5:05 PM

"You're… You're regenerating, Rose." I say. And then she exploded. I mean _literally_ exploded. In front of my eyes. Golden light flowing from every inch of her exposed skin. The TARDIS shutting down from the excess energy flying around inside it. Rose was screaming, a bloodcurdling scream of agony. Her arms flung wide open, from the energy pouring from her body. She screams and screams and screams. And when I think that even _I_ can't stand it anymore, and I'm about to leave the room, she stops. Suddenly it's silent. The TARDIS still shut off, the screaming stopped. All I could hear was my own ragged breathing, and that of the woman on the floor.

_Who's that? _Is my first thought. _Rose. But that's not what Rose looks like. Oh yeah, _mental smack_, she's a time lady now._

She lay on the floor, long platinum blonde hair pooling around her head. Her legs are long, and she has an hourglass figure. Her previous yoga-pants and t-shirt much too small for her tall frame. She lay face down on the grill of the control room. Unconscious. Suddenly, the woman moans, a high pitched, feminine moan. _That doesn't sound like Rose at all_. She rolls over and my breath is taken from me.

The woman on the floor is obviously Rose. Her face is thinner, cheekbones higher, but her eyes, her brown eyes are exactly the same. The same age and wisdom, and pain, all present in her wide eyes. Her lips the same colour red, her nose slightly more greecian. Her complexion lighter with flushed cheeks and a faint sheen of sweat on her brow. _This_ is Rose. She looks almost exactly the same as before, just, enhanced. She sits up, and pulls herself to a standing position. She presses a button on the center console and the mirror I have hidden drops.

"_Hey!_" I cry.

"What? Like I didn't know it was there. TARDIS told me." She responds flippantly. She looks at herself in the mirror. Her new figure, height, beauty. She takes it in with critical eyes. Then she speaks.

"Well," she says, amused, "I can certainly get used to this." She spins, "Think of all the designer clothes I can buy now with this body."

I stand there, shocked, at what I had just witnessed. Is that what it's like for my companions who see me regenerate? I was lost, deep in thought, when I noticed a lost look of her own, cross Rose's features.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Who am I now? Am I funny? Am I smart? Am I kind? Am I rude? Am I cruel? Am I mean? Maybe I'm an angel, or a cannibal. Maybe I'm flippant, carefree, dainty, strange, queer, annoying, witchy, crude. Could I be interesting, intriguing, exuding mystery? _Who am I now?_"

I remember the feeling clearly, "Well, let's find out."

"I'm starving, let's go to the kitchen." She speeds off ahead of me, knowing her way through the expansive halls of the TARDIS. She pushes through the double-doors of the kitchen, and sets to work.

"Do I like apples?" She takes a bite of an apple, makes a face, then chucks it behind her, throwing it into the trashcan perfectly while spitting the chewed up apple into the sink. "How about fish fingers?" she makes fish fingers then tries a bite, and before she can throw the plate away, I take it from her.

"How about some custard to go with those fish fingers?" I suggest.

"Interesting." She makes some custard, grabs a fish finger, and dips it in. She takes a bite and nearly vomits. "You like this? How about bacon? Everyone like bacon." Her eyes light up as she fries some bacon. She spits that out too. "Hmm, there must be something I like… Bananas? (no) Pie? (no) Pears? (no) Tortillas? (no) Quesadillas? (no) Tacos? (no) What about chips and shake?" She heats up some chips in the oven and blends herself a strawberry milkshake. She nips a still hot chip from the pan and dunks it into her shake, swirling it around for effect. She takes a bite and her face positively glows.

"Goodness me! I _love_ this stuff! It's absolutely fantastic!" She eats some more, and then some more. _She must be ravenous_, I think, remembering the dilemma well.

"Now," she says with her mouth full, "Obviously I don't look exactly like Rose anymore, and since you obviously don't go by your real name, e.g. the Doctor, maybe I should think myself up a name also? That would be fun. Exciting. Doctor? No, that's already taken. Professor? No, that's just weird. What do you think? Should I be a Patty, or a Mary, or a Diane? Maybe a Donna or an Amy? Maybe Clara? Not Martha, what about Clary? Or Clarissa? Oh, that's got a nice ring to it. Cassandra? No, we dealt with her way too many times. Antoinette? Nah, she was burned at the stake. Though it is pretty. Maybe Collette? Or Olivia? Or Kimberly? Or Emma? Cassie, or Agnieszka, or Ziporah, or Sydny? Dorna, or Hana, or Sara, or Gia? Gianna, or Maeghan, or Rachel, or Zari? Gabi, or Gabriella? Bianca? Blanche? River or Pond? Maybe Ocean? My, names are difficult, they are our title, so they're quite important." She goes silent for a while. Then her eyes light up like stars.

"I think I should be Alexandra, or Lex, Alex, Lexy, Sandy, Sandra, etcetera. It means 'defender of mankind'. And that is what I shall do." She finishes confidently.

And I believe her.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Rose: August 4, 2012 5:30 PM

My name is Rose. I haven't got a last name. It used to be Tyler, then it was Palt. Now I have none. I am a time lord. Or lady, I suppose. I used to be human, but to save the man I love, I looked into the time vortex. And slowly over the next few years, I turned into an alien. _Alien_, such a stereotypical word. I would rather say foreigner, but I'm not one. I was born in London, England. I should be twenty-five years old. I know now that I will grow older than a hundred, and still look young. If I am injured, I can regenerate. Get a new body. But with regeneration, comes a cost. I lose who I am. So I used to be Rose. I still have remnants of her I suppose, but I'm Lex now. It's who I am, now. Not Rose Tyler, or Rose Palt. Lex. Just Lex. And I, am an alien.

I had looked at myself in the mirror, noticing everything at once. I was taller, curvier, prettier, but I still looked the same too. If you had only met me once or twice as Rose, you would probably still think I was Rose. The Doctor looks at me with awe. I had finished telling him that I was going to protect humankind, hoping that he would catch the hint that I wish to travel with him again. His eyes are sort of, sparkling, I hope he's not starting to cry. That would be weird. I've only seen the Doctor cry, like, twice in my life. Goodness, I sound like a teenager again. Is that what I am like? Naïve? That would be awful. I finish my chips and shake and request some chewing gum from the Doctor.

"Got any on you?" I ask.

"No, I don't like chewing gum."

"Hm," I say. _The last you liked it. But the last me didn't like it_.

"TARDIS might have some." He suggests.

_**I haven't got any chewing gum**_ The TARDIS communicates, in that weird, gallifrey-ish way. _**But we can certainly stop for some**_**.**

"Nah, that's alright. Got any spare toothbrushers then, Doctor?" I inquire.

"Toothbrushers?" He says amused, "I should have some. In the cabinet, under the sink. You know how to get there."

"Right-o daddy-o. I'm off to brush my teeth." And I swagger out of the kitchen. I stride down the hallway, making a beeline path towards the restroom, when the TARDIS shifts its halls. Suddenly, I am in the greenhouse.

"What?" I say, "Why am I here?"

_**Just because you have returned, and you are a time lord now, doesn't mean Theta doesn't still care about you**_the TARDIS tells me.

"Um, okay. Can I go brush my teeth now?"

_**Don't break the Doctor's heart out of spite. He still feels affections for you. And you for him.**_

"What? No." I sound uncertain and my voice cracks, "Ahem, I mean, no. I don't still feel anything for the Doctor." But I can hear the blatant lie and so can the TARDIS.

_**You may tell yourself that, Little Bird, but you know it is false**_the TARDIS clears its own hypothetical throat _**and I would not be able to bear it if you hurt Theta because of something you can not yet admit to yourself.**_

"I-"

_**You feel hurt, betrayed, abandoned. You feel like he left you because he hated you. But that is not true. He left you on that street corner because he loved you and wanted you to be safe.**_

"Well look where that got me. I was hurt anyway!"

_**But not fatally injured. And that street is where the shop you met the Doctor at for the first time. He thought it was significant enough and would tell you that he would be back.**_

"Yeah, I knew that it was where I first met him. But other than that I didn't know the other significance it posed for him. Me. Us."

_**I repeat these next words for you because they are so important. Do not hurt the Doctor. You know the consequences of upsetting the oncoming storm. And Theta is not an oncoming storm you want to encounter. **_

"I suppose you're right. I'll try not to be too spited. I'll, I'll give him another chance."

_**You are strong and kind, Little Bird. I can see from your possible futures.**_

"Yeah, being a time lady and all, now I can see all that has been, all that will be, blah blah blah, wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff." I giggle at the memory. I wasn't there, but I see it now. Written into the annals of time.

_**You joke, Little Bird. But you do not yet comprehend. It will take time, and much pain and torment, to understand the joy and curse of being a time lord. But there is wonder and awe to it too. You need the bad stuff to balance out the good stuff and vice versa.**_

"Yeah, I think I kinda get it…"

_**No, Little Bird, you do not.**_

I think. Do I get it? I keep saying I do. But now that I think about it, I really don't.

"You're right, I don't get it," I say, sounding lost, "Being a time lord isn't going to be all it's cut out to be is it?"

_**Now you get it. Little Bird, go brush your teeth then join him. He waits for you in the control room. I will aide you on your way**_.

And I believe her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The Doctor: August 4, 2012 6:00 PM

She ambles slowly back into the room, deep in thought. The sight of her makes me want to whisk her away with me. Always having her in my arms, placing my lips on hers. I get swept away in my fantasies and don't notice Rose, erm… Lex, speaking to me until she is waving her hand in front of my face.

"Sorry, what?" I say.

"I have to go." She says, and my hearts stop. "I mean, just to get stuff if I'm traveling with you again. And I at least have the decency to let Sean know that I am leaving." She clears her throat, "I mean, if that's alright with you."

When my hearts start beating again I respond breathlessly, "Yeah, that's fine. Do you want a lift?"

Her face lights up like the sun, "Nah, I can just run ho-" she doubles over, face contorted in pain, moaning.

"What's wrong? Rose? I mean Lex? I mean…?" I ask, frantically.

Her moan cuts off and she exhales softly. Golden light flows out of her mouth, dispersing into the air around us. She straightens up again, face flushed with exertion and embarrassment and shuffles her feet. I give a sigh of relief.

"Just a side effect of regenerating," I tell her.

"I know," she says quietly, "I remember."

I look at her with sympathy. "Alright then, Lex-"

"Rose."

"Pardon?"

"Lex, just isn't who I am. I'd like to remain Rose, please. She's a much better person than Lex." Rose smiles sheepishly.

"Well, glad that's settled. I like Rose better too."

She smiles, then walks to the doors of the TARDIS, "I should be back in thirty minutes, tops." She winks at me and says, "You better not leave without me." Then closes the doors behind her.

I wait until a count of ten, then run after her. I need to make sure she is safe. I need to protect my Rose.

_A rose symbolizes beauty, love and passion. Also warmth of personality and compassion The thorns are a reminder that love can also be painful._


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Rose: August 4, 2012 7:00 PM

The moment the doors had closed behind me, I dash through the streets of London, sure that the Doctor is going to follow. I take the windiest route I can manage, passing through as many crowded avenues as I desire. I pass Big Ben, which is chiming the hour. It startles me how late it is, and I run faster. I sprint towards my place of residence, realizing that Sean is home, and furious. I obviously hadn't cooked dinner at six, so he was probably drunk. He wouldn't even notice that I had changed, he would blame it on the drink.

I swing a wide arc around a corner, avoiding a nasty fall. I see the house looming at the end of the street, perspiration pouring down my hot cheeks, my double hearts thumping wildly. Excuse me, did I just say _double hearts?_ How did one of those survive if it wasn't pumping blood before I regenerated? Maybe it was because it hadn't existed before I regenerated. Hm, requires more thought. I jump up the front steps, my longer legs easily taking them two at a time, and fumble for my house key. I notice the front door is open, creaking in the light breeze. Not a good sign. I quietly enter the house, pushing the creaky, green door of entrance.

It opens with a squeal. I step in, and note that the house is quiet, _too_ quiet.

"Hello?" I call gently, "Sean? Are you home?" Luckily my voice hadn't changed so I was identifiable as Rose.

"Rose?" Sean responds, "Could you come in here for a mo'?"

I cautiously walk towards the kitchen, the sound of Sean's voice emanating from there. I look around the corner, noting that the table is already covered in several bottles of beer, and a half-drunk bottle of whisky. Sean's sitting quietly, serenely at the table, looking calm. But when I look at his bloodshot eyes, they are raging with anger.

"Rose? Honey, look at the table." He commands.

I step in the rest of the way and do as he says.

"What do you see on it?"

"Well, I see several bottles of booze, probably not the best way to start the night-" I tell him.

"Fine," he says sharply, "What do you _not _see on it?"

"Erm," I say for better lack of words, "Supper?"

"Very good, Rose. And what time do I come home at night?"

"Between six and seven." I stare morosely at the ground, tensely anticipating what comes next.

"What time is it now dear?"

"Past seven…"

"Then why does the table _not have dinner on it?_"

"Because I wasn't home."

His voice is rising with each word, "And _why weren't you home?_"

"I was visiting with people."

He stood, swaying gently on the spot, "_Who?_"

"Someone I hadn't seen in a while."

"Rose, you know what the consequences are of not having dinner ready and on the table when I get home."

"Yes, Sean."

"So, why do you keep doing this?"

"What?" I ask.

"Disobeying me."

"Because I am a human being, Sean." _Not anymore_ I think.

He strides right up me, putting his face in mine, "_You need to obey my rules!_" He shouts, his breathe stinking of the stench of alcohol, "You are my wife! And as that, you should do what I say! Not act like a slut, and visit people all the time! I know you're visiting that _idiot_ Mickey! And how many other men are you doing it with? Huh? How many men are you _whoring _yourself to?"

"No one! I swear I'm not-" He cuts me off by slapping me across the face.

"That's _bullshit_ and you know it! Are you pregnant? I bet you're pregnant aren't you?" He bellows, "That's why you haven't been home! You've been avoiding me so I wouldn't notice that you are pregnant!"

"That's not true! I'm not pregnant! I'm not even having sex with anyone-!" He punches me in the gut, and I double over coughing.

"There! Now your whore baby can't be born! If that didn't kill it, then I don't know what will!" He is furious, and wraps his fingers around my throat, squeezing tightly.

"You're… hurting… me…" I wheeze.

"Well, you're hurting me, Rose!" He shouts in my face, "Every goddamn time you come home late! Every damn time dinner isn't on that flippin' table when I get home! You're hurting me!"

"Please… stop… can't… breathe…"

He grabs my arm, releasing my throat, and twists the limb behind me. I scream in agony. He jerks sharply, shattering the bone. Tears are running down my face. He sweeps my legs out from under me, and I fall heavily to the ground. He kicks me, and I curl up into the fetal position, pressing my back against the wall to protect my kidneys. I wrap my bad arm around my neck, the other hand pressed atop my head to prevent head injuries and spinal injuries. I whimper, begging Sean to stop. But he keeps kicking me. Finally, he stops, and grabs my arms. I scream at the pressure being placed on my smashed bone, and he places his foot in the center of my chest, and pushes me away. I fly across the room, hitting the telly with a _crunch_. My back cracking as I whiplash over it. I tumble, curling back into the fetal position in the corner. I am sobbing, just wanting the pain to stop. Sean had approached me once more, and punched me in the face. Colours burst in my head, bright against my closed eyelids. My teeth sinking into my lip, drawing blood. My head banging against the wall behind me, plaster crumbling into my hair. He holds something sharp and silver in his hand. A kitchen knife. He swipes at me with it, and I jump out of the way. I vaguely feel the tip of it grazing my forehead. I think it is a shallow wound until blood gushes into my eyes, blinding me. I stumble, running into something. I am sobbing, and screaming. Calling out for help. My voice going hoarse from ululating the grating noise. Suddenly, the doorbell rings. I freeze, and feel Sean freeze behind me.

"Well who the hell would that be at this time of night?" He shouts. He turns on me, "One of your men?"

"I don't know! I don't know!" I sob, praying with all my might that it wasn't him, coming to make sure I was coming, "I don't know!"

I hear Sean stomp down the hall, and open the door. I am praying and praying when I hear:

"Hello, I'm the Doctor. Is Rose in?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The Doctor: August 4, 2012 7:20 PM

It took me a good twenty minutes to sniff out her house. Get it? Sniff? Because I followed her scent? Oh never mind. So yeah, I followed her scent, but wound through a bunch of streets of London, obviously she didn't want me following her, yeah? But then suddenly, it makes a beeline towards the end of a street, so I sprint, following the scent. The house it turns at and goes up the steps is nice. It's large and has a flower garden, with lots of different coloured Roses. I smile. I approach the faded green door carefully, when my sensitive hearing picks up something from the house.

Screaming.

I hear a deep voice, shouting, the words to a normal human muffled by the door, but to a Time Lord they are clear as day.

"There! Now your whore baby can't be born!" I hear the deep voice bellow, "If that didn't kill it, then I don't know what will!" I feel the blood drain out of my face at the next words.

"You're… hurting… me…" A distinctly higher pitched voice wheezes. _She's being choked_ I think.

"Well, you're hurting me, Rose!" the man shouts, "Every goddamn time you come home late! Every damn time dinner isn't on that flippin' table when I get home! You're hurting me!"

"Please… stop… can't… breathe…" I fell a sharp pain in my hearts, as though I can _feel_ Rose being hurt. My head aches with the agony she's in. Pain rips through my skull as she screams in agony. I hear her whimper, her voice much closer to the ground now. I hear a sickening crunch, and the crackling of joints popping. She's sobbing, I can hear it. I can _feel_ it. Tears fill my eyes. _Why am I not doing anything? She's being tortured in there and I'm just standing here listening at the door! _I hear a loud bang, and feel pain burst at the back of my skull, her head hit something hard. Then a sharp pain slices across my forehead.

"_Help! Please! Someone help me! PLEASE! SOMEONE! HELP!" _I hear Rose screaming and crying out for help. Those pleas for assistance cut through my vegetative state, and I ring the doorbell. The house falls silent except for Rose's quiet sobs.

"Who the hell would that be at this time of night?" the man shouts. _It's only seven twenty,_ I think, "One of your men?" the man finishes.

Rose is desperately shouting, "I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!"

Approaching footsteps, and the door swings open, creaking in protest. A tall man stands in front of me. Five o'clock shadow, ginger hair, lanky, thin, obviously Irish. He narrows his bloodshot, blue eyes at me. A sneer on his face and an expectant look. A look that says, _"Well? Why are you interrupting me? I'm busy."_

I clear my throat, "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Is Rose in?"

"Yeah," the man answers, without a trace of an Irish accent, "What do you want with her?"

"Well," I begin, "See, I invited her to come travelling and she graciously accepted, but when she didn't return after the designated amount of time she set, I became worried and came to inquire as to how she's doing." I hoped that if I threw enough "big words" in there, he would get confused and just let Rose go. Alas, it was not so.

"Rose didn't tell me squat about going traveling. Who did you say you are again?"

I peered around the thin man, and saw Rose peeking around the corner, blood caked to her face, and still streaming freely from a cut in her head. A bloody kitchen knife lay a few feet away from her, and I could smell her scent and the man's scent on it.

"As I said before, I'm the Doctor." I say with a smile.

"The Doctor, eh?" He looked at me ponderingly before realization dawned on him, "Hey, Rose, ain't he the bloke you traveled with before we was married?"

Her eyes are shooting warning glances at me, "Yes." She answers quietly, voice hoarse from screaming.

Anger flashed in the man's eyes, "And you've come to take Rose and leave?"

"Sounds about right," I respond, "So if her bags are packed, we'll just be on our way."

"Nah, I don't think so, _Doctor_," he sneered, "Rose cooks me dinner and provides me with pleasure. I even get to rant and rage at her and she just stands there taking it," his mouth twitches, "I don't think Rose is going with you anytime soon. I need her too much."

I glance at Rose again, her eyes tearing up, pain and desperation evident. She shakes her head at me, telling me to stop and leave.

_Leave without me_. I gasp, her telepathic powers are more strong than I anticipated, _I'll be out soon._

I shake my head, indicating that I wasn't leaving without her.

"Mr…?"

"Palt. Sean Palt." _Ah_ this is Sean.

"Mr. Palt. I hate to tell you this but I am not leaving without Rose. Now if you could just get out of my way, I will help her collect her things." I point my sonic screwdriver at him. His eyes widen in fear and steps aside.

"What the fuck is that thing?" he asks fearfully.

"It's a tool, or a weapon, but I like to think of it as a tool. It can, however, stop your heart with just one flick of the switch as long as it is directed at you." I inform him.

He lets me through, and I look away too soon to see the malicious nature of Sean, peek through his eyes.

"Rose?" I say tenderly, "Come on, you have clothes on the TARDIS still. Just grab whatever you want quickly and we can leave." I notice that she's looking over my shoulder. I turn around quickly and Sean is looming over me with a cricket bat.

"Too damn bad Rose can't come with you. Seems like you'll be staying with us for a while." Sean says with a grin.

I raise my screwdriver but it is too late. The bat swings down and hits my head with a crack. I drop to the ground, fading from consciousness, I hear a scream, coming from Rose.

"_What did you do?"_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Rose: August 4, 2012 8:00 PM

_I watch as Sean swings the cricket bat over his head, and hear the loud crack as it collides with the Doctor's skull. As he collapses, I scream, and then shout, "What did you do?"_

I had scrambled over to the Doctor, his prone form on the floor, sobbing over him, feeling for the twin pulses in his neck, one on either side.

"You bastard! What do you think you are doing?" I shout.

"I think he should stay with us for a few days, don't you?" Sean responds calmly. He knocks me aside and lifts the Doctor over his shoulder like a sac of beans. I spot the sonic screwdriver on the floor, having rolled from the Doctor's hand, and slowly inch toward it, not wanting to alert Sean to the fact that I found something useful.

Sean tromps up the stairs, making enough noise to block out any sounds of me grabbing the screwdriver. I hide it in the waistband of my pants, and scoot back to where I had been sitting.

"Rose! Get dinner ready! Cook some food this this bloke too!" Sean bellows down the staircase. I rise to my feet, blood flowing freely from my head, and stumble into the kitchen. I get out three cans of tomato soup, and listen as Sean bangs open the guest bedroom, then closes and locks it. I heat up the soup in a saucepot and get a skillet out for some grilled cheese. Sean enters the kitchen and I address him shakily.

"D-do you want s-some chips with your d-d-dinner?" I inquire.

"What are you making?"

"Soup and sandwich."

"What kind of soup?"

"Tomato."

"Nah, if we're having grilled cheese with it then I'm fine." He sounds sober, so I sneak a glance at his eyes and they are sharp, aware.

I butter some bread and throw it in the hot skillet. The soup is boiling, so I turn down the temperature and let it simmer. I add some spices to the soup and some cheese to the bread. Ten minutes later, I have three identical meals set out. Sean's, having the most food and having to be the warmest, is served first. I make some tea and pour it into a mug, then I put the Doctor's food on a tray and carry it up. As I walk past a vase of flowers, I nip a red rose from the bunch and place it on the tray alongside the spoon and napkin. I climb the stairs laboriously and finally reach the top, head and side searing with pain. I limp to the guest room and, while balancing the tray in one hand, knock lightly on the door with the other.

"Doctor?" I say quietly. Receiving no response from the room, I unlock the door and step inside. The lights are off and the Doctor is sprawled on the floor. I hurry over to the side table and set down the tray, then turn back towards the Doctor. I glance at his face, then do a double-take. His eyes are open and glittering, and he slowly moves a finger to his lips, the universal sign for silence.

I stare at him with wide eyes, unsure what I should do, my breathing ragged in my injured chest. I jump when I feel something enter my head.

_Rose, stay calm, _the voice says, it sounds like the Doctor, _it's me, the Doctor. I'm communicating with you telepathically right now._

I roll my eyes and attempt to respond, _I got that, yeah? How do we get out of here? We can't take the stairs, Sean is in the kitchen._

_I haven't figured that out yet. Do you have my screwdriver?_

_No, Sean ate it,_ I respond sarcastically, _'course I have it._

_Put it on the tray with the food._

I shuffle over to the tray, fishing the sonic out of the waistband of my britches, and set it down gently on the tray. _Now, what?_

_Go back downstairs, I'll tell you when you can come out back._

I roll my eyes again, then walk to the door, closing it gently and then locking it behind me. I make my way downstairs as loudly as I can, not difficult considering how hard it is for me to walk. I enter the kitchen and clatter around, making noise, looking for a mug.

"Sean, where are the rest of the mugs?"

"Sold 'em."

"What for? I do drink tea you know. And occasionally coffee."

"Just get a glass of water. Wouldn't kill you to lose a few pounds."

I put on an air of annoyance, because it would kill me if I lost a few pounds. Or maybe I would just regenerate again. I sit down noisily at the table and loudly take a few spoonfuls of soup into my mouth. I fill up rather quickly, remembering that time people don't need to eat or sleep as much as humans. So in order to avoid being to full to run, I accidentally knock my bowl onto the ceramic tile, soup splashing everywhere and the china bowl breaking. _That should be enough_. I think.

"You, Bitch!" Sean shouts, standing up abruptly, "Look what you've done!" He over turns the table, all the glass and china crashing to the floor, breaking into a million sharp shrapnels. I hope with all I have that that is enough noise for the Doctor to get out.

I am cleaning up the spilled soup when I hear, _Rose, I'm out back. _I glance at Sean and then splash a little soup onto his pants.

"Sorry, Sean." I say.

He gives me a murderous look then tromps upstairs again to change. As he is thundering up the stairs, I dash lightly to the sliding glass door that is our passage to the backyard. I slide it open, then shut it softly behind me as I step outside. I keep to the shadows of the house, the master bedroom overlooking the back.

"_Doctor?" _I whisper.

"_I'm at the gate_," he whispers back.

I creep over to the gate, and we both jump it with ease, dashing off into the night. I look at him briefly, then say something I haven't said in years.

"Gotta love the running, yeah?"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The Doctor: in TARDIS

The moment the TARDIS doors had swung open, at the click of my fingers just FYI, Rose dashed into it, faster than me. _Rose_, is _faster_, than _me_. When did that happen? When I reached the TARDIS, Rose had already disappeared into its depths. I sigh and scrub a hand over my face. What am I supposed to do? I swore to myself never to put Rose in danger again. But now that she's on the TARDIS again, how am I not supposed to take her with me? I can't leave her in the life I left her in before. Especially now that she had helped me escape. I feel the bump on my head, shrinking by the minute, and wince in pain. It's roughly the size and shape of a pear. Another reason why I hate pears. They're disgusting and green and soft and taste awful. They're shaped crudely and they're disgusting and _green_. I shake my head to get back on track. What am I supposed to do?

_**You could always just adventure with her, Theta.**_ The TARDIS tells me.

_But how would I protect her?_ I respond telepathically.

_**You don't need to. She's a Time Lady now. She can protect herself. You saw how she's faster than you now. I'm sure she's stronger than she used to be too.**_

_But how do I factor in? I was always the one to save her before._

_**Instead of saving her, you can save each other. Her mental capacity is increased as well, anything you tell her, she'll remember.**_

_Really?_

_**Yes.**_

I sigh again. Her cuts and bruises would have healed by now, considering she's still within fifteen hours of her regeneration. I ponder about where to find her.

_**Wait thirty minutes. Then find her. She will be in the Library**_**.**

_Alright_.

**-OoOoO-**

I head to the Library and push open the heavy oak doors. Wood. Why would I have wood on my TARDIS? My sonic doesn't work on wood. I really need to fix that. What if she locked me out of the Library? How would I get in? My sonic _doesn't work on wood_. I find myself getting increasingly exasperated, so I calm myself and step through the doorway. I look around the Library and see her on a couch in front of a blazing fire. She's clean and changed, her hair wet, and curled up on the couch flipping through a book so quickly, she can't possibly be reading it. I approach warily, and look at her eyes. They're blurred, reading the lines of text impossibly fast. There is an enormous stack of books at her feet, and a second one by her elbow on an end table. She finishes the book she's reading and adds it to the stack at her elbow. She turns to grab another book and notices me watching her.

She jumps, "Hello! Just catching up. It has been quite a while since I could read material that extraterrestrial. Something other than dull earth books. In fifteen minutes I've learned twelve other languages, the different flora and fauna on forty-two different planets, and how to make Jammy Dodgers."

"You didn't know how to make Jammy Dodgers?" I inquire.

"Nope!" she responds happily, "But now I do. I can read so fast! It's quite impressive. Do you have any specs? Just for reading and the like. My eyes are getting very strained from reading…" she turns and quickly counts the books at her elbow, "one-hundred and fifty-three books in fifteen minutes."

I look at the cover of the most recent book she read, _The Tourist's Guide to the Salian System_. A book I remember to have read several years ago. Twenty-thousand pages, about the different planets and they're specifics. How did she read it that quickly?

During my distraction, she had gotten up and left the room. I mentally curse myself, forgetting that Rose now has the same attention span as a Time Lord. Is this what it's like being around me? My attention jumping from item to item? I listen for her and find her in the garden. I request that the TARDIS take me there immediately. I leave the room and find out that the TARDIS disregarded my request, so I walk to the control room. I come short at what I find in there.

Rose is dancing around the center console, flipping switches and pressing buttons. Setting coordinates. Shock and panic fill my head.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no! What are you doing?" I shout.

She doesn't even glance at me and answers, "Setting random coordinates. I think we should go somewhere fun. You might want to grab hold. Though the TARDIS tells me that already I'm better at flying her than you." She giggles, "TARDIS believes that you do an awful job commandeering her."

I stare at Rose in horror, "How do you even know how to fly this?"

"Oh, you know. TARDIS help, watching you fly her years ago, a bit of instinct. That's plenty to go on." She looks at the monitor, "Interesting, apparently we didn't even leave Earth. Time change sure, Europe no." She strides over to the doors and flings them open, "Welcome, to California."

I walk cautiously over and peek out. I remember the last time I was in California, oh say a hundred years ago. It was quite rural, and doesn't seem to have changed. I glance at Rose and she has an irritated, slightly disappointed look on her face. She makes a sound of dismissal.

"I was aiming for San Diego. Or maybe San Francisco. Either would have done. I guess I was a bit off." She says sheepishly.

I stare at her intently. How did she know where we were? Random coordinates? She's being all kinds of confusing.

She brightens, "Oh-ho! TARDIS! You're amazing! I did put in the correct coordinates, she just wanted us to go here. Bit of trouble there's been." She takes off towards the little town.

I quickly realize how, un-rural, California has become. The town is small but the roads are paved and cars whiz past. Rose briskly walks on the sidewalk, focused on getting to our destination. I notice what she's wearing. She has on a black pleated skirt, very short, mind you, and it shows off her legs very nicely. Black chucks on her feet, hair spilling about her shoulders, naturally blonde now. She wears a light dusting of makeup, and has a white, short-sleeved collared shirt on. A blue diamond patterned sweater vest on over it. She wears a pair of stud earrings, little Gallifreyan suns I notice, and has on a simple necklace. Her TARDIS key. To complete her outfit, she has on my old, long brown duster. I notice her smelling it from time to time, and sadly remember that she doesn't know me. She knew the old me, not the new me. I quickly notice that her pink lips are moving and she's talking to me.

"Wait, what?" I ask.

"Well, apparently this town is called Sun Valley because they are in the Valley named Sun. Sun Valley get it? And this town has been burned down, flooded, typhooned, whatever, because it's in such a little valley. But, they also get their fair share of voodoo nonsense. Crop circles, lights in the sky, UFO sightings, the usual. Strangely enough they didn't notice the TARDIS appearing on the outskirts of town out of thin air. Lately this town has been hearing screams from a storage building. And that's where we're going." She says.

I look at her blankly, unused to being the one who follows. I am always in charge, but now, Rose is leading the way. She turns a corner and reaches a large, blank, cement building. She reaches into her, _my_, coat pocket and produces a thin, silver device.

"What are you doing with my sonic screwdriver?" I cry.

"It's not yours, this one's mine. Yours is still in your pocket." She sonics the wooden door, and it swings open, "It even does wood."

I look at her, openly in awe. She glances over, noticing my reaction, and grins cheekily. The tongue-in-teeth grin she knows I love. I realize that my jaw is hanging open, and quickly close it.

"Come one," she says, "Let's go find out what we're dealing with."

_Tick Tock goes the clock_

'_Til the Doctor kills his flower._


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Rose: California; July 23, 1999

"_Let's go see what we're dealing with."_

In every second of power, I grow more confident. With every step I take I feel more in charge. This must be what it's like to be the Doctor. I had whipped out my sonic screwdriver, relishing the look on his face when he saw it. Mine even does wood, the highlight of my day. When the wooden door swung open, and I had said one of the most dangerous lines in the universe, we traipsed into the warehouse. It was dark, and musty, completely uninhabited. But, using my Time Lady senses, I could tell that up above, there was something lurking. I motion to the Doctor, my actions saying _stay quiet and follow me_. I look at him with warning eyes, daring him to do something stupid. He honestly looks scared of me, or in awe. I'm not sure which. I creep towards the lift, expecting the Doctor to follow, he does, albeit warily but he does. The stairs are at the opposite end of the building, my idea is to distract whatever's upstairs with the lift and take the stairs. I reach the lift, and sonic it to life. The gears crank and creak, the machinery whirs. With a loud groan, the lift rises, metal screeching. I dash across the warehouse floor, running for the stairs with all I have. I hear the Doctor's footsteps behind me, sounding extremely loud compared to my nearly silent ones. I light up the stairs, avoiding the places where I sense will give out under my feet. The Doctor thunders up behind me, and I give an exasperated sigh. I use my sonic screwdriver to open the door at the top of the flight, and roll through on the ground, avoiding any traps there may be.

The Doctor follows, quickly scanning the room as he ducks behind a crate. I peek out from behind the crate I currently am shielding myself with. Everything on this floor is coated with a thin layer of goo, it's clear but stinks of rotten eggs and sweaty gym socks. I see the Doctor examining the slick and I swipe my finger through it, bringing my coated finger to my nose. I sniff, and underneath the stench there is a distinct smell of Barillican. _A being from the planet Barillis, a Barillican consumes it's victims by eating them from the inside out. First, the bones, slide out through the junctions, also known as joints, then the muscle, the flesh, and finally the organs. Starting with the bladder and genitals and ending with the brain. Ood are it's favourite prey, but it will also be satisfied with human._ My brain recites to me all the facts about Barillicans, from a book that I, incidentally, read earlier. Their planet is part of the Argonaut System, named after old Earth's Roman mythology and the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Dread filled me, the idea of people being eaten that way, being subjected to that kind of torture, filled me with rage and fear. I look carefully for where the slime thickens and see a cluster of crates off to the right covered in the stuff.

I wave to get the Doctor's attention and gesture towards the crates. He nods his understanding, having reached the same conclusion slightly after I did. We cautiously make our way over, walking the perimeter, looking for an entrance. As I tread lightly, the goo thickens and I end up ankle deep in slime. _So much for my black chucks_, I think. I find a gap in the wall of crates, and peer in. Manacles have been chained to the wall, wires attached to the metal, bits of flesh and bone in various stages of decomposition are scattered across the floor. The stench of rotten eggs and gym socks is extremely strong here, mixed in with the odor of decomposing people. There is a snoring coming from a corner, and when I look over, I see a huge lump, cast in shadow, breathing deeply, covered in a mound of slick. I scan the wall of manacles and notice a small girl chained up at the end opposite of the alien. She sees me and starts struggling, chains clanking. I shake my head quickly, motioning towards the being in the corner, then putting a finger to my lips. She stills, staring at me, desperate fro escape. I hold up one finger, hoping she will realize that I will be right back.

I pull back from the entrance and wonder how to contact the Doctor. Then I remember, Time People are telepathic, and TARDISes are telepathic, and they can communicate. So why can't Time People communicate telepathically? I search in the back of my head for the Doctor's presence. I find it, next to the TARDIS. I cautiously probe it, and it responds with a shove. I send a message into the presence: _Doctor? I found the entrance._

I feel the Doctor's presence startle, then receive a message in return: _Rose? How can you do this? _

_Telepathic, Time Lady, etc. _I tell him.

_Oh, yeah._ He responds.

So, anyway, I found the entrance and there is a little girl, about ten years old, chained to the wall. The Barillican is sleeping in the corner. What do you suppose I do?

_Stay there. _He says, _I'm coming._

I wait patiently for the Doctor to appear. I look around my spacious brain, usually cluttered as a human, practically empty as a Time Lady. I go back to the presences, the Doctor's growing with his proximity to me, the TARDIS's fairly faint as she is far away, and a mysterious third presence. I probe it, and hear manacles clank as the presence responds weakly. The little girl is a telepathic. And a strong one at that. The Doctor turns the corner, and heads towards me, I motion for him to be quiet, finger to lips, and gesture at the opening. He slows but then, glancing at the entrance, he trips over something on the ground, falling face first into a crate. I feel my eyes widen as I watch the tower of boxes teeter, then fall inward. It hits the ground with a crash and the Barillican is awoken with a start.

It climbs to its feet, large as rubbish bin lids, and totters on skinny little legs. I laugh outright at this alien's outrageous appearance. A huge torso is balanced atop the tiny limbs and skinny arms protrude from its sides. Its hands a long and thin, but end in deadly claws. I gulp and look at its head, a lumpy, misshapen blob, with beady little eyes that glint with malice and a flat, squashed nose. Its mouth has no lips to cover its wicked sharp teeth. Teeth protruding from under its flesh, poking out from tears in its cheeks, all over the place. It opens its mouth to roar, and I see, with dread, its multiple rows of razor sharp teeth, bits of people stuck in the rows and rows of orthodontics. I gulp audibly and glance over at the Doctor, picking himself up from the slime, coated in it.

_I'll distract the Barillican, _I tell him, _you get the girl._

He glares at me, my face betraying amusement at his discomfort, _I can't I'll distract it, you get the girl._ He says to me.

_Why can't you get her?_ I inquire.

He looks sheepish, _I forgot my sonic screwdriver._

I make a noise of annoyance. _Goodness man, just 'cause I'm a Time Lady doesn't mean I have to do all the work. _I pull out my sonic and toss it to him. Then, before he can protest, I run out into the middle of the crate-room and yell. I wave my arms and then dash out of the crate arrangement. I hear the Barillican bellow and follow me. I whoop joyously at the chase and put on some more speed. I vault over some crate's and duck under a pipe. I roll behind another cluster of boxes and await the alien. I blunders through, unaware of the boxes it's knocking aside. I hear the faint whine of my sonic and hope that the Doctor is getting the girl out of her manacles. During my moment of distraction, the alien finds me. Fifty scenarios roll through my head of how this moment could go down. I launch myself between its legs, sweeping the limbs out from under it. I leap to my feet as it crashes to the ground and sprint away. I see the Doctor carrying the little girl, who must have fainted, and run alongside him to the lift. We get in and I grab my sonic from the Doctor's hand and sonic the elevator down. The lift rattles and groans as it lowers us to ground level. The moment the doors are open, I hand the Doctor my sonic and grab the girl, shifting her into my arms.

The girl is awake, but about to pass out from exhaustion. I sing to her in my mind. A song I had heard the Doctor hum many times, many years ago. She drifts off, traveling to dreamland, and the Doctor and I run out of the warehouse. His shoes pounding the pavement, my duster snapping behind me like a cape. He sonics the door shut behind us and jams the lock. We sprint away from the nondescript building and fly towards the TARDIS. The doors swing open with a click of his fingers and we run inside. He shuts them again, locking them, and I hurry to the med-bay. When I reach the metal door, the TARDIS opens it for me and I hustle inside, laying the small girl onto the cot, covering her with the white sheet. I set the med-bay's sensors to scan for illness, wounds, or anything unusual. I can't do anything about trauma. I let her sleep, and tell the TARDIS to inform me when she wakes up.

I walk into the control room, the Doctor nowhere to be found. I take us into the time vortex, and let us hover there. I sit on the grill floor, leaning against the railing. I close my eyes, exhausted from regeneration, then a rescue, and then another rescue. My eyelids grow heavy as sleep begins to take hold of me. I drift off into a disturbed slumber.

**-OoOoO-**

The control room of the TARDIS is dark, silent, empty. I walk around, searching for something, unsure what it is. The Doctor's suddenly there, his face a mask of anger. I shrink back from him, afraid.

"_Rose, you need to leave," he says, barely controlled fury in his voice._

"_Why?" I ask fearfully, "What have I done?"_

"_Your very existence puts all of time and space in danger," his eyes flash, "you need to leave."_

"_Where are we?"_

"_A parallel universe, there was a crack that I slipped through. This is a universe where everything is already dead and gone. There is nothing for you to hurt."_

"_But-"_

"_**Go Rose!**__" he shouts._

_My eyes fill with tears, he was leaving me, again. Suddenly, surprise flashes across the Doctor's face, and I feel myself die. Not physically, but mentally. I feel Rose Tyler die. I become a bystander, watching, trapped inside my own mind. Her eyes begin to glow gold. The Doctor's face shows fear and worry._

"_You cannot control Bad Wolf, Doctor." She says._

"_I-I you're supposed to be gone! She's a Time Lady now! Bad Wolf shouldn't exist anymore!" he answers, dread eminent in his voice._

"_The Bad Wolf creates herself," she says, "You cannot control me."_

_She sweeps her hand past across the doors, they swing open, barren landscape visible through the opening. She jabs her finger at the Doctor, and he flies out the doors._

"_Rose!" He shouts._

"_Rose is dead." She says, "I am all that remains. Bad Wolf."_

_The doors swing shut with an echoing clang_.

"_I am the Bad Wolf."_ _She says, "I create myself."_

**-OoOoO-**

I awoke with a start, my chest heaving as I struggled for breath that wouldn't come. My mind was running at a million miles an hour. I knew that what occurred in the dream could possibly be a reality, but it also might not be. That's the thing with time, it can change with a simple decision. A decision made in China could affect us all the way in California. Like the Doctor said, 'Time is a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey… stuff.' It can be affected and the future changed by the littlest thing. Like in that movie, _Back to the Future_, where Marty McFly has to be very careful not to mess up his timeline. That movie is probably one of the more accurate portrayals of time travel. The second and third ones are pretty good too, but the first is the best by far.

I jump up, aware that the TARDIS is dinging obnoxiously in my head.

_What? _I snare telepathically to TARDIS.

_**The small child is awake. You asked me to let you know.**_

Sorry. Bad dream.

_**I know Little Bird.**_

_How come you call me Little Bird?_

_**Because you are like a Little Bird, naïve in some ways, and extremely brave in others.**_

_What about the Bad Wolf thing?_

_**Bad Wolf is not you. You need not worry.**_

I stride down the hall to the med-bay. The little girl is awake and sitting up, gazing about in awe of what surrounded her. She was holding my sonic screwdriver, which the Doctor must have left in here. I watched, unnoticed, from the doorway. Her finger slips and hits the button that activates the sonic. The whine emits from the screwdriver and she jumps, dropping it on her lap. The moment it leaves her hands the noise stops. She cautiously picks it up again and presses the button. The tip of my beautiful screwdriver glows light red. She aims at her feet, and begins to giggle when the waves of sonic vibrate her skin. I smile, then step into the moderately sized room.

She jumps again when she sees me, dropping the sonic. I am still smiling slightly, hoping my eyes are warm, and not looking confused.

"I'm sorry," she says, in a meek little voice, "I shouldn't have touched it. It just looked so interesting." Her American accent has a slight southern twang.

"No apologies are necessary," I say with a small wave of my hand, "It is quite an unusual device, is it not?"

"Yes. What does it do?"

"Well," I say, approaching her and removing it gently from her hands, "It's a sonic screwdriver. It makes noise, like you heard, and lights up. The noise is actually very concentrated waves of sonic, or sound, with vibrates things. Depending on what I am pressing, it can vibrate things quickly or slowly. It never vibrates skin enough to kill though. Just administer a small shock maybe. That's why I like it. Doesn't maim, doesn't kill. But it's very good at opening and closing doors." I aim the screwdriver at the door and press the button, the door swings shut with a clang. Her gaze flits from the door, to the sonic, to me, then to the door again. I aim once more, sonic, and the door opens.

"Wow!" she says.

"Pretty nifty, huh?"

"Yeah, it is!"

"So," I say, "What's your name?"

"Kimberlee Ross. What's yours?"

"I'm Rose Tyler."

"Is someone here with you?"

"Yeah, his name is the Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"I have no idea." I say with a breathless chuckle, "I don't think anyone does anymore."

"Oh, can I meet him?"

"I'm sure you will Kimberlee. Is that spelled with a 'y' or a double 'e'?"

"K-I-M-B-E-R-L-E-E." She tells me proudly.

"Interesting. Tell me, Kimberlee, where do you live?"

"In town with my mom. My dad is in the army and is de… de…. De-ployed."

"That's a big word isn't it?"

"Yes. I just learned it two weeks ago."

"When were you taken by the… monster?"

"Yesterday."

"Okay, did your mum know you were going to be gone?"

"She sent me to the market to pick up some groceries. We own the bookshop."

"That's fantastic! I love books. Big books, small books. One book, two books, red books, blue books, see I even like Dr. Suess!"

She laughs, "You talk funny, you know that?"

"Well, to me, you Americans talk funny."

She smiles, "Where are you from?"

"I'm from London. That's in England. But right now I'm traveling with the Doctor."

"You're real pretty."

"Thank you. You're very pretty also."

She blushes, her red hair falling over her eyes. It is literally red. She is freckled with a tan, and is tall and thin. Her shirt is purple underneath all the dirt, and she is wearing red shorts. Her shoes are missing. When she looks up again, she's crying.

"What's wrong?" I ask, caught off guard.

"I wanna go home and see my mom." She says with a little sniffle.

"Well, let's take you home then!" I rise, "How do you feel?"

"I'm a bit tired."

"Do you remember anything that happened after you were taken by the monster?"

"No."

_Ah_, I think. That's why the Doctor was in here, "Alrighty then. Let's take you home." I hesitate, "Would you like to take a shower first?"

"No." she says, "I just want to go home."

"Okay, let's go!" I swing her up into my arms and she squeals. I laugh and shift her onto my back, so she's riding piggy-back style. I take off running down the hall and into the control room. She gasps at how immense the room is.

"What is this place?" Kimberlee asks.

"This, is the control room." A voice behind us says. I smile.

"And what are you doing hiding in the shadows?" I say, turning.

"Oh, you know, this and that. It's more fun that way. Not many shadows to hide in here." The Doctor says with a grin.

"Who are you?" Kimberlee asks.

"I'm the Doctor." He says.

"I asked Rose earlier and she said she didn't know."

"Didn't know what?" He asked, looking at me suspiciously.

"Didn't know the answer to the question."

"What question?"

"Doctor who?"

He froze, eyes becoming distant as he relived a memory. Then he snapped out of it, "Well, if Rose doesn't know, why should I tell you?"

"Because I'm little." She says simply.

"Well, you are little," he pretends to think, "Well, if you really want to know, my name…" he pauses dramatically, "Will not be revealed to you right now."

She sags on my back, anticipation having made her stiffen.

"Chin up, dearie." The Doctor says, "No one knows my name anymore. I'm too old. Even Rose doesn't know my name. And she's my best friend."

"Clary's my best friend and she knows my name." Kimberlee says.

"You humans and your names, you don't understand the power which they hold. They're not something you just call yourself, they're who you are." He says, very cryptically.

"What do you mean, 'you humans'?" she inquires.

The Doctor and I share a glance. "What the Doctor meant was, you Americans. English people understand the importance of names, but most Americans do not." I tell her.

"Oh," she sits, quietly thinking. I give the Doctor a panicked look.

_What do we tell her when we emerge from the TARDIS and it's a little blue box? _I ask him.

_Well, we could tell her the truth. She'd probably think she's insane._ He responds.

_Is it night or day in California?_

_Um, I have no idea, we're still in the vortex._

_Great, _I think sarcastically, _now what do we do?_

_Get the TARDIS out of the vortex I suppose._

_No shit, Sherlock. _I respond.

"Well, Kimberlee, I need to put you down, do you mind?" I pretend that she's too big and my knees are shaking.

"No, I don't mind." She says, sliding off my back fluidly.

I approach the console, and after a look, the Doctor and I begin our dance, flipping switches and pressing buttons, steering us to California. I swing my leg up to hold down a button while I reach for a lever. I notice the Doctor mirroring my actions and we smile.

"Oh my god!" I hear Kimberlee shout.

I crane my neck and see that she had opened the doors, the swirling light and murk of the time vortex flashing past. "Kimberlee!" I shout, "Close that door!"

She closes it and comes running up the ramp. "Where are we?" She demands, "We are not in Sun Valley!"

"You're right, we're not," The Doctor says.

"So where are we?"

The Doctor and I share have a silent conversation with our eyes. Finally, I sigh and say, "We're in the time vortex."

"What does that mean?"

"We're traveling through time and space."

"Really?"

"Yep," I say, popping the 'p'.

"Cool!"

The rotor begins to slow, and the TARDIS engines wind down. Everything is silent.

"We're getting quite good at that, don't you think?" I ask the Doctor.

"Yeah, not even a bump." He responds. We smile and walk to the doors together. We each grab a handle and push the doors wide open.

"Welcome home, Kimberlee," I tell her. It's night-time in the quaint California town. She dashes out of the TARDIS. Running away from the town, towards a little house in the woods which we can see the light from, she glances back and trips. She gets up and stares at the TARDIS. The little blue box which fit so much inside. Suddenly, she grins, and turns and keeps running. The Doctor and I look at each other, then close the doors with a final click.

The Doctor takes my shoulders in his hands, grinning, and says, "Welcome home, Rose." And he kisses me.

_Tick Tock, goes the clock_

'_til the Bad Wolf comes to play._


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The Doctor: TARDIS

I took her shoulders in my hands, grinning, and say, "Welcome home, Rose." And I kiss her.

I lay on the couch in the Library, remembering the kiss. I had pressed my lips to hers hesitantly, and she stiffened under the touch. I was beginning to worry, but then she melted into the kiss, and put her arms around my neck. I slid my hands down her body and settled them in the small of her back. I bit her lip gently and she quietly moaned. My tongue flicked across her upper lip and deepened the kiss. I backed her against the doors, my hands creeping up her shirt, feeling the warmth of her skin on my hands. Her perfectly contoured back, curved as she kissed me. Her tongue explored my mouth, and mine hers. When we finally surfaced for air (Time Lords and Ladies can hold their breath an extremely long amount of time) she was flushed, but her eyes were shining. I'm sure I looked much the same. We stood there an insanely long time, just staring at each other with silly grins on our faces, talking in our minds. Finally, she tells me she needs to get some food, and asked if I wanted some. I told her I would wait in the library and that's where I've been since.

She walks in with a slight spring in her step, a large bowl of chips in one hand, and two cans of soda in the other. Her long fingers able to handle both easily. When she sees me, her silly grin is back in place, and mine surfaces also. I can easily think of many ways that we could put our long fingers to work… _NO!_ I tell myself sternly, no thinking like that. Go slowly. I take a deep breath and sit up.

"Why am I not surprised that you made chips?" I asked with a teasing smile.

"Chips are amazing. They're probably the best thing humans ever invented." She returns the smile, pink tongue poking through.

"Not radios, cars, cell phones, or telly?"

"Nope, chips are definitely the best. Telly and cell phones are a close second, though." She sets the food and drink on the coffee table, coasters underneath the perspiring sodas. She sits on the couch next to me, and I grab her around the waist, eliciting a shriek of surprise from her. I pull her onto my lap and kiss her lightly on the nose. She laughs and grabs some chips in her hand, shoving them down my shirt.

"Oh-ho, you better wish you didn't just do that." I tell her. She laughs and leaps off the couch, grabbing another handful of chips in the process and dashes off into the TARDIS. I grab the bowl and follow, running behind her. She wings a right, then ducks into an alcove, causing me to overshoot and realize she wasn't in front of me anymore too late. She leaps on my back, and mashes the chips in my hair. I take the bowl and overturn it on her head, relishing the gasp I draw out. I grind the bowl, smashing the chips and laughing as she clutches at me, wrapping her legs around my waist.

Suddenly, the TARDIS jerks and I trip. I throw my hands out to catch myself, but Rose is thrown off my back. She screams as she briefly flies through the air, then the ululation is cut short. I look up, worried.

"Rose?" I ask, when I see her on the floor. She doesn't respond, so I crawl over to her. "Rose? Rose?" I say, increasingly panicky. I put my ear on her chest, _Bum,bum,bum,bum._ I give a sigh of relief, both hearts are pumping and she's still breathing. There's a nasty gash on her forehead though, oozing blood. It must be what knocked her out. The moment I move to put my hands under her and lift her, she jerks up.

"What happened?" She asks.

"Er-"

She feels her forehead, "Why am I covered in blood?"

"The TARDIS hit a bit of turbulence or something and you hit your head."

"Oh." She looks at me curiously. "I'll be right back."

She gets up and walks towards her room. She's back in two minutes, blood cleaned and gash scabbed over. She styled her hair so most of the cut is concealed. Her clothes are clean and hair freed of chips. She smiles and offers me her hand, I take it and she pulls me to my feet. She's wearing the same outfit she wore yesterday, except the vest is red instead of blue and the duster is absent. Her chucks are white too.

"What happened to the black chucks?" I ask.

"Ruined by Barillican slime, remember?" she says, crouching down to pick up the chips and bowl. She flashes me a brilliant smile, then sashays to the kitchen. Putting the chips in the rubbish bin and the bowl in the dishwasher she leaves the room and walks to the control room. She's messing with the monitor when I enter.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"Finding out why the whole TARDIS jerked."

"Turbulence, remember?" I respond, spotting the duster draped over a railing by the door.

"Nah, that's not it." She tells me, "We were hovering in the time vortex, it doesn't have turbulence. Anyway, now we're not. The TARDIS is responding to a distress call."

"Where?"

"Sun Valley, California, Earth, March 31, 2007."

"Weren't we just there?"

"Yeah, except for them, it was eight years ago."

I liked how Rose and I had become an 'us' and the humans and other species out there had become a 'them'.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I ask.

"Nothing!" she shouts, dashing past me and grabbing her duster on her way out. She shrugs into it and opens the door with her sonic, running outside. I chuckle and follow.

When I run outside, I nearly smack into Rose, who had stopped literally two feet from the doors. She had frozen. I touched her, she had actually _frozen_. Her skin pale and cold, duster crusted with ice, hair brittle under my hands. I search for her presence in my head, but it's not where it should be. Considering how close we are, her presence is distant. I follow it and find myself at a house. _The_ house. The one that the girl ran into. What was her name? Karen? Kathleen? As I approach, there is a young woman sitting curled up on the porch. I break into a jog and take the porch steps two at a time. The woman looks up, and I recognize her. Kimberlee.

"Kimberlee?" I ask.

"Doctor?" Her emaciated face lights up. Her blue eyes are sunken into her face, giving her a haunted look. Her red hair lays limp down her back. She stands, her sweat pants rolled down at the waist and up at the cuffs. She wears a purple tank top that is too small. Her limbs thin and bony. "Doctor, I'm so glad you came," she says, her slightly southern American accent familiar.

"Kimberlee, what…?" I ask.

"There's something in my house that shouldn't be there." She tells me, "I haven't seen it but if you've been in contact with cooking oil, any kind, within the last five minutes, it freezes you."

"What's the radius?"

"About a hundred yards."

"That's why Rose was frozen," I murmur to myself.

"Rose is here too?" she asks.

"Yeah, but she had just touched some chips, er, French fries."

"So she was frozen."

"Yeah." I look at her, "Where's your mum?"

"She _is_ the monster…"

"How…?"

"Her boyfriend, Rick, was an alien and bit her and now she's turned into something…"

"Oh dear," I say, "That's not good. That's very not good."

"Why?"

"Bites are difficult to help. Is the wound fresh?"

"No…"

"Can she eat?"

"Nope. No mouth. She absorbs the presence of the people she freezes."

"And how do you know this?"

"I have decent telepathy. And Rick was frozen, and all my friends. Once they're frozen, they're literally frozen. Then they melt. Skin and ice. Everything melts. All my friends, gone; mom, gone; Rick, gone."

"What about your dad?"

"Dead."

"Oh," I scratch the back of my neck. "How long until the presence is totally gone?"

"Two hours. When you get close to it, the most recent ones can be heard. Seen too. They're like ghosts. All transparent and echo-y. They just fade."

"Pardon me for asking, but how did you not get absorbed."

"I don't eat oil. Vegetarian, Vegan, the whole works. Also, diabetic."

"Oh, sorry."

"'S not your fault."

"Well, let's go catch ourselves a monster."

**-OoOoO-**

We had entered the house, cautiously, and followed the chill, which increased the further into the house we went. Soon, Kimberlee was shivering. I gave her my blazer and buttoned the cuffs of my shirt. 

We are in the upstairs master bedroom, the bathroom where the monster had made its residence. The room was totally empty. The pictures and wall paper torn in jagged tears and holes. As though claws been dragged down the paper. I look at Kimberlee, silently inquiring whether she was ready. She nodded and we opened the door. A blast of cold air rushed out at us, engulfing us and coating us with a light dusting of frost. We both shivered then entered the room. The bathtub, sinks, and shower were full of ice. The toilet frozen solid.

"Where is it?" I ask in a frozen whisper, a puff of air crystallizing in frozen tundra.

"The closet." She answers.

We walk towards the closet, at the back of the room, when something pale and transparent emerges from the wall. It's Rose.

_Don't go in there_ she whispers _It's not safe. Leave me, Doctor. _

I shake my head and motion for her to move.

_Don't, please, I wouldn't be able to bear it if you were injured because of me. _Her eyes are sad, morose, her body floating slightly, duster brushing her ankles, converse clad feet angled down, her toes sliding against the carpeted ground.

I move to go around her but she floats in front of me. Finally, I just wave my hand and she disperses. I charge forward, flinging the door to the closet open. I am met with silence. I look around and notice Kimberlee looking up. I slowly follow her gaze and see something I have never seen before. A small cocoon hung from the ceiling, eyes peeking out of it. A hiss is emanated from the cocoon and it shrinks. Suddenly, a jet stream of something shoots from the cocoon. Faster than I have ever seen before, Rose, corporeal Rose, rockets into the room, duster snapping and cracking, and shields us from the fluid. She gasps and high kicks the cocoon, it falls to the ground, but she catches it before it can hit the floor. She searches around the closet frantically, and finds a silver ball. Slightly larger than the cocoon, she opens it with a twist and places the cocooned being inside it. She then buries the cocoon in a bank of snow. The snow makes a compressing noise and disappears. Everything frozen melts and the room is back to normal. Soggy, wet, but normal. All occurring in less than twenty seconds.

I see Rose curled up on the ground, her shoulders shaking with barely suppressed sobs. She is curled in on her stomach, and when I near her, the smell of burnt flesh is evident.

"Rose!" I cry. I drop to my knees beside her, and look at her face. It is a mask of agony, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Rose, it'll be okay. We just need to get you to the TARDIS and everything will be alright. TARDIS'll heal you up right quick. And we'll go out and visit your mum and I won't complain and you can have all the chips you want. I'll get you a pair of specs so you can read forever. You can fly the TARDIS, just don't die. Don't regenerate again. You just regenerated don't do it again. Please, Rose, please don't. Please don't regenerate. The probability of you looking relatively the same is almost nothing. It was a fluke the first time." Tears are streaming down my face too, now, "Don't die. Please do not die."

"Doctor," She says, "I am so glad I got to see you again. With my original face, this face, and the next face I will have, I will always be so happy. I'm just glad I got to kiss you with this person. The next won't be the same." She gasps, stiffening. Her body stretches out, her hands trying to cover a huge hole in her stomach. Gold light already starting to swirl around the wound. Suddenly, her eyes light up.

"Doctor!" She shouts, "Get me to the TARDIS! Quickly!"

I scoop her up and sprint down the stairs and out of the house, running across the grass towards the TARDIS, she begins to groan, trying to prevent herself from regenerating as long as possible. The doors of the TARDIS bang open.

"My… room…" She says between clenched teeth. The doors open for me, the TARDIS helping. Her room arrives quickly, the door engraved with a rose. The Gallifreyan term for rose carved directly below it. The door swings open and I take in the familiar room.

"Put me… on the bed… in my drawer… there's a box… from first regeneration…"

I find the box, small and nondescript. I hold it out to her.

"Open… it…"

I do as she says, and I'm surprised to see her pinky finger buried in a gel. She cut her finger off just incase something like this happened and she wanted to stay.

"Hold it towards me…" She gets up laboriously from the bed. The moment she's standing, the golden energy shoots out from her neck and arms, encasing her body. The hole in her stomach fills in, any healing occurring before the body change. She forces her hands together, aiming at the finger. All the time energy flowing into the limb. It glows gold and then normal again. I shut the box, trapping any excess time energy.

I look up at Rose and notice that she's staring behind me. I turn slowly and see Kimberlee standing in the doorway. Eyes wide, obviously having witnessed everything.

"Wait- Kimberlee…" I start taking a step towards her.

She takes a step back. "What are you?" She demands, "What the hell are you? You're obviously not human, neither one of you. What the hell are you!?"

I start to talk but Rose puts her hand on my shoulder, "We are Time Lords. Well, I'm a Time Lady but you get the gist of it. We're- We're aliens."

"Aliens? But… but my mother was an alien. You look like normal humans."

"Actually," I say, "Time Lords were around first, so humans look like Time Lords-"

Rose smacked me, "What he's trying to say is that Time Lords have been around a long, long time. I haven't, actually I've only been a Time Lady for about thirty-six hours, but him, he's been one for ages. I mean literally ages." She tells Kimberlee.

"So, you're both aliens, but you're good aliens, protecting the universe and whatnot, in a time machine." Kimberlee looks at us skeptically.

"Yep," we chorus.

"This is insane. I've gone crazy." Kimberlee clutches at her hair.

"No, you're not insane. Me, possibly. Him, definitely." Rose tells her, "I mean, one of his favourite phrases is 'I am definitely a mad man in a box.'" Rose looks thoughtful, "Considering, we are in box. A blue one too. Blue's a good colour. I like the colour blue. Anyway, I've taken a liking to you Kimberlee. Wanna come with us?"

I kinda look at Rose like, _Are you crazy?_ And she gives me a look that blatantly says, _Shut it._ She then looks at Kimberlee expectantly.

"I-I…" Kimberlee stammers.

"I mean, it does travel in all of time and space. Out box I mean, not whatever 'it' might be. What might 'it' be in this case?" Rose contemplates.

I look at Kimberlee, "So, Kimberlee Ross. Would you like to accompany me and Rose Tyler on the adventure of a lifetime?"

Her eyes widen (Kimberlee's not Rose's) and she sputters out, "Y-yes. Sure. I'd love to come."

"Great!" Rose and I say together.

"And by the way," Kimberlee says, "It's Kimy. One 'm' one 'y'."

"Fantastic," Rose says.

"Where should we take her?" I ask Rose.

"Well, we can't do the end of the Earth, we're already there. If we did New Earth, it would have to be very specific, where we go. No room for error. Oh! I know. Let's take her to New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York." Rose says.

"What?" Kimy asks.

"The twentieth New York. But they just call it New New York. Too hard to say that many news." Rose tells her. She looks at me for conformation.

"Sure, let's go to New New York." I say.

And we walk to the console room, laughing all the way.

The flower changed

_And the Doctor played_

_Even though the TARDIS_

_Told them to stop, _

_Or they will drop._

_No one listened to TARDIS._


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Rose: TARDIS

_The moment I'm standing, the golden energy shoots out from my neck and arms, encasing my body…I force my hands together, aiming at the finger…"I've taken a liking to you. Kimberlee. Wanna come with us?"… "Y-yes. Sure. I'd love to come."…"It's Kimy. One 'm' one 'y'."_

In the control room, Kimy is leaning against the railing, and the Doctor and I are rushing around the center console, the time rotor whining, flipping switches, holding down things, getting hit in the head by the monitor. The usual. This trip's ride is a bit more bumpy, the accuracy we need is more important than precision. When we touch down with a thunk (sorry TARDIS), I am upside-down, hanging from the elevated floor upon which the console is centered. Kimy is on the ground, holding onto the rail for dear life. And the Doctor is…where is the Doctor?

"Doctor?" I call out.

"Down here!" he responds, his voice muffled.

I look around from my reversed point of view and see him underneath the grill, hanging tangled in the wires. I laugh, and make the mistake of clutching at my stomach. My knees slip and I crash to the ground.

I hear the Doctor and Kimy cracking up. "You wouldn't be laughing if it were you. That seriously hurt. I think I broke my neck."

"Really?" Kimy sounds concerned.

"No not really," the Doctor tells her, "She wouldn't be able to talk if she had."

"And how would you know?" I challenge.

"I've broken my neck before. I was unable to talk for three days." He says.

"Whoever your companion was at the time was very lucky for those three days." I tell him.

"Oh yeah… wait… what? Hey!"

Kimy and I are laughing as the Doctor tries to look outraged but can't help but crack a smile. Soon enough he's laughing with us.

"Alright, alright," I say, "We should probably make sure we're in the right place." I approach the double doors, nicking my duster on the way. I step outside to hear birds chirping, hovers hovering, and the smell of apple grass. I inhale deeply, closing my eyes, only to be tackled from the front.

"Hey! What's going on!?" I hear the Doctor shout. I am laughing, whoever is on top of me is tickling me. Only one person knows I am ticklish besides the Doctor, and my mother. I open my eyes to see a pair of brown eyes in a handsome face looking at me with a broad grin on his chiseled features.

"Jack!" I cry, sitting up to fling my arms around him, "Captain Jack Harkness! How in the world did you know we were going to be here?"

"Hey, Rosie." He says gruffly, then he clears his throat and takes on his flirty, carefree tone once again, "I was even further in the future than this and heard some reports of a blue box mysteriously appearing across the river from New New York. So I took my recently fixed Vortex Manipulator and zapped myself here." He looks up, "Hey! Doc! What's up?" He rolls off me and pulls the Doctor into a manly hug.

"Jack Harkness," the Doctor shakes his head, "Fancy seeing you here. On New New Earth of all places."

"Newly repaired Vortex Manipulator and stories, Doc. That's how I get anywhere."

"Still trying to catch up with me, for times you've saved the world, huh?" The Doctor looks at Jack wryly.

"You wound me, Doc. I just wanted to live up my never-ending life."

"What?" I say startled, "Never-ending? What's that all about?"

"Well, Rosie Posy, when you took that fancy time vortex into your pretty little head, you brought upon the Dalek's downfall, and brought me back to life. Dalek got me. But, you did it a little too well and now I can't die for a very, very long time." Jack explains.

"Oh, my god. I am so sorry, Jack!" I exclaim.

"Nah, it's okay, Rosie." He waves his hand noncommittally, "I'm over it now. Besides, I get to explore and see how many races I can piss off in a week. My record is thirty-three."

I'm sure the guilty look was still all over my face, because Jack crouched down and spoke to me quietly, "From what I can tell, you can live as long as I can. Maybe longer. Doc might not outlive you. But he's already old. So, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'll be around." He smiles.

Kimy hesitantly steps out of the TARDIS, having changed into something more fitting.

"And who might this be?" Jack asks, "Hi, Captain Jack Harkness."

"Kimy Ross."

"Pleasure to meet you, Kimy."

"Please! Can we keep the flirting to a minimum?" The Doctor says.

"I was just saying 'hello'!" Jack cries.

"And for you, that's all it takes." I say shrewdly.

"You wound me, Rose Tyler. I am wounded." Jack states dramatically.

"Well, you can cry on my shoulder if you need to, Mr. Harkness." Kimy says boldly.

"Good god, you make me feel older than I need to feel," Jack says, "I know I'm old, don't rub it in woman! Though I will take you up on that offer of a shoulder." He waggles his eyebrows, making me laugh.

The Doctor and I produce from our pockets (bigger on the inside) a full picnic, with plenty of food for all. To wrap it up, we pick bits of apple grass and munch on those, lounging on my large duster.

"Nice style, Rosie," Jack comments.

"A little bit of everything, don't you think?" I respond.

"A bit of grumpy, happy, and crazy."

"Nailed it in one." I say flagrantly.

"What?" the Doctor inquires.

"I got a bit of grumpy Doctor, the black skirt; a bit of happy Doctor, the chucks and duster; and a bit of crazy Doctor, also known as you, with the nerdy top." I tell him.

"Hey! Nerdiness is cool. Especially bowties. Bowties are very cool." He says.

"I agree,"

"Thank goodness someone does!" he cries, "Neither Amy not River thought so. They disintegrated my fez and on multiple occasions tried to dispose of all of my bowties."

"You had a fez?" Jack asks.

"Yep. A red one with a cool tassel." The Doctor responds.

"I can get you a new one if you like…" Jack says.

"No!" I cry, "Bowties may be cool but never fezzes!"

The Doctor looks at me, pouting. "Please, Rose?"

"No."

"Please?"

"Absolutely not."

"_Please?"_

"_NO GODAMMIT!"_

"But I want one!" he whines, "they're so cool! Fezzes are cool! And I had a fez."

"But, you don't have one now, and as long as I am alive I will not let you get another. So help me god." I tell him.

"I dunno," Kimy speaks up, "Fezzes can be cool. It just has to be worn with the right thing."

"Like what I wear!" the Doctor exclaims.

"No!" Jack, Kimy, and I all say unanimously.

"Hmph," the Doctor puts on his pouty face. The one look I can always resist. Or I used to be able to resist. Oh, he looks so forlorn.

"Oh, alright." I say, succumbing to the pouty face.

"Yay!" the Doctor shouts.

_The TARDIS tried to protect them_

_And though they disregard her_

_She'll do her best_

_So hang the rest_

_The TARDIS cares for them._


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The Doctor: TARDIS; Time Vortex

I'm bustling about the console room. Oh, I like that word. Bustling. You bustle when you're bustling. Very funny word. Bustle sounds like rustle. Rustling happens in leaves and bed sheets. Rose sleeps in bed sheets. There are lots of things I could do with Rose in bed sheets… No. Stop that. No more thinking like that. I reprimand myself. Rose sleeps even less than I do. I wonder why that is. It's not like I sleep more than three or four hours a week. But Rose sleeps maybe one. Two if she's totally wiped out. I might scan her again. I know she's Time Lord now but maybe… It wouldn't hurt to scan her again.

I walk over to the monitor, about to set up another scan when Jack walks into the console room.

"When did you come on the TARDIS?" I ask him.

"I slipped on after you were distracted with Rose and a 'broken faucet'" he tells me.

I feel my face redden, "I still can't believe I fell for that. Rose knows that faucets can't be broken on the TARDIS. She just fixes them up again."

"Yeah, we know, Doc," Jack says with a smug smile.

"Anyway, What do you want, Jack?" I inquire. Jack usually stays quiet when he's on board the TARDIS.

"Rosie's showering." He says, an annoying smirk on his face.

"Yes? Your point?"

"In showers, people are generally naked."

I flush, "What are you getting at, Jack?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thought you ought to know." He waves his hand in dismissal, "Considering how obvious it is that you're in love with her."

"Wh-what?" I sputter, "N-no I'm not!"

"Denial," Jack says in an all-knowing voice ticking off a finger, "Check. Eyes following her as she walks around the room, check. Whenever a door is opened, eyes flick over to it with a hopeful look, check. Blushing when she praises you or is being clever, check. Also, when she's being clever you gaze at her with pride, check-"

"Okay, Jack! I get it!"

"Staring off into the distance with a dreamy look on your face, check-"

"Jack!"

"Giving her goofy smiles when she does something impressive or is just by your side, check-"

'Jack, stop!"

"Oh! And looking extremely upset when she's annoyed with you, check-"

"_Jack! I get it! Stop already!" _I shout.

He stops, his smug look parked on his face once again, "Doc, if you don't do something soon, you're gonna lose her. She's not going to wait for you forever, you know."

"I-I know. I just… don't know how to do things like this…" 

His eyes widen in mock disbelief, "Woah! Doc, doesn't know something! The universe must be ending!"

I look at him sharply, "Don't joke about that," I say even though a small smile has crept onto my face.

"So," Jack says, clapping his hands together, "As I was saying, she's in the shower, naked, but I forgot to add that she's singing this really eerie song. Like, über creepy. You might wanna check it out, and in the process, you know, see a little leg flashing."

"Jack," I say, my face red as a tomato, "That's crude and unnecessary. What about Kimy?"

"Oh, she's in the swimming pool. Found a suit that fits her in the wardrobe. Actually, that's what I was going to do, get a swimming suit but I was sidetracked when I passed Rose's room and heard the freaky tune."

"Did you hear the words?"

"Yeah, something about a clock ticking. But the rest of the lyrics were different than the old song that River told me about."

"River told you the lyrics to the old song?"

"Yeah," Jack says looking confused, "She said her mom heard them and told them to her when she was still Melody."

"Oh," I say, my face falling, "It's _that_ song."

"Yeah," Jack tells me, "It was going something like, _Tick Tock goes the clock 'til the Doctor kills his flower. Tick Tock, goes the clock 'til the Bad Wolf comes to play._ Creepy, right? I wonder if it's just a nursery rhyme she heard somewhere…" Jack stops talking, looking thoughtful.

"Okay, why don't you go get the swimming suit and go swim with Kimy. I'll talk to Rose." I had a sinking suspicion about what the song might mean. Last time it foretold my death. Now, I think it's foretelling Rose's.

"Right-o," Jack turns on his heel, "Oh, and Doc?" he calls over his shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Don't freak her out, okay?"

"Right." Jack leaves the room, whistling the tune to the eerie song. I follow him, forgetting that the scan was still running. I walk towards Rose's room, hearing the patter of the shower as I approach. As well as singing. I stop at her door and just listen for a moment.

"_Tick Tock goes the clock 'til the Doctor kills his flower. Tick Tock, goes the clock 'til the Bad Wolf comes to play. The flower changed and The Doctor played, And even though the TARDIS Told them to stop Or they will drop. No one listened to her. The TARDIS tried to protect them And though they disregard her She'll do her best So hang the rest The TARDIS cares for them." _Rose sings. The tune floating out on the muggy air, the song growing louder as I open her door and step into her room. There on the nightstand is her box containing her finger, I need to find her a safer place for that. If anyone touches it, the finger I mean, then a metacrisis would be created. And that would be very bad.

I jump at the silence. How long ago did she stop singing and turn off the water? I turn around slowly and see Rose standing in front of the bathroom door, a white fluffy towel wrapped around her. Blonde hair hanging limp and wet around her shoulders, hands on hips, and the famous Tyler glare on her face. I shrink back, withering at the daggers being thrown from her eyes.

"What are you doing in here?" She snarls.

"I-I… Jack… Song… Shower… Creepy…" I shut up, spluttering uncontrollably at her exposed collar-bone and long pale legs. She clears her throat and my eyes snap back to her face. Her incredibly beautiful, perfect face. Stop that. Stop it. I tell myself.

"My eyes are up here," she says, frowning.

And so they are, I think, "Yes, yes they are." I say.

"Again," her glare back in place, "What are you doing in my room?"

"I, erm, was just, coming because Jack said he heard you singing." I finish lamely.

"So? What's wrong with singing?"

"N-nothing, just the song you were singing. It was kind of creepy."

A blank look overcomes her face. And I mean her entire face went totally slack, like something had wiped all emotion from it. Finally, a puzzled expression creeps onto her beautiful face.

"Rose?" I inquire, worried.

She shakes her head, "I'm sorry. What were we talking about?"

"The song you were singing."

"What song?"

"You know, the one in the shower."

"I was in the shower?" She glances down at herself and flushes a deep red, "And so I was."

"Yeah, so you were singing a strange song."

"I wasn't singing."

"Yes, you were. It went like this," I whistled the tune.

"I have never heard that tune in my life."

"But- but you were just singing it." I say, flabbergasted.

"No… I wasn't," she's looking at me oddly, "Are you sure you're okay, Doctor?"

"No, what? I mean yes! Yes, I'm fine."

"I wasn't singing a song, just showering." She looks at me slyly, "You know, soap, shampoo, hot water?"

"Naked?" I add absently, "Yeah, I know the drill."

She's standing right next to me now, her strawberry shampoo very distracting. She puts her hand on my arm and begins steering my out of the room.

"Wait, what? What are you doing?" I ask.

"I need to get dressed." She says, "We can't very well go around saving the universe with me in a towel, now can we?"

"I'm sure the universe wouldn't mind," Oh my Rassilon, am I flirting?

Apparently Rose thinks so too, and sticks her tongue out at me, "No Time Lords allowed." She says, mock serious, "Great big, nono. I need to dress. Isn't there something in the TARDIS that doesn't need fixing? How 'bout the toaster? Or maybe you can get your sonic to work on wood? Like mine?"

My face lights up, "That's a brilliant idea! You, Rose Tyler, are absolutely fantastic!"

I dash out of her room and catch her shaking her head, amused, out of the corner of my eye. I run back into the console room and sprint madly past the monitor, then stop. And back up, staring at the monitor.

The scan is completed, and displays the results for all to see. Rose's skeletal system is normal, respiratory system, normal for a Time Lord. Circulatory system, not quite normal. It glows faintly gold. I select it and zoom in. The blood cells are all emitting time energy. That's not supposed to happen. I select one, and have the TARDIS scan the DNA. She gives the results quickly. I stand and stare in shock.

95% Time Lord, 5% TARDIS.

"What?" I say out loud, bewildered. My thoughts are interrupted, however, by an earsplitting scream.

_The Doctor runs and hides in fear_

_Of what his flower has become._

_He calls for help, but no one hears_

_He lost his precious flower._


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

TARDIS: Time Vortex

Theta runs from the control room, heading towards the sound of screaming. I calmly close the scans and watch him run to the pool. The new human, Kimy, is pale and shaking. She is standing on the pool deck, pointing to a wet spot on the pavement. Jack Harkness is in the pool, on a floating raft, but looks just as shaken up. The Doctor bursts into the room.

"What? What's happened?" he shouts.

"I… she… golden light… poof… gone!" Kimy stammers.

"What?" Theta turns to Harkness, "What is she talking about?"

Harkness clears his throat, his face pale, "Rose had come in here, in a swimming suit and was splashing around with us. She got out to run to the kitchen to get some chips and shakes. When she spun around, there was this flash of golden light, and she disappeared."

"So where is she?" The Doctor demands.

"Right here." Rose has reappeared in the room, carrying a tray with three milkshakes and a large bowl of chips. She is unharmed, my scans confirm. I tell my thief as much. His shoulders visibly relax. Rose walks over to a table an places the tray on the wobbly surface.

"There," she says, addressing the Doctor, "This table can be fixed. Found something for you to do." She looks proud of herself, but there is a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Theta runs over and grabs her by her shoulders, and stares into her eyes for a few moments. Then wraps her in his arms, even though she is wet and in a swim suit.

"Doctor," Rose says, "As much as I am enjoying this, I can't exactly breathe."

"Oh," Theta says, flushing, "Right, sorry."

"No problem," Rose smiles, her tongue between her teeth.

"So," Harkness drawls, "You gonna tell us what happened, Rosie?"

"I have no idea. I just was thinking about how much I wanted some chips and shake and when I spun around to leave for the kitchen, there was this, like, pop. Suddenly, I feel totally scattered and I have this thought, like, I'm in the Time Vortex and I need to pull myself together, literally. Then, I remembered I was going to the kitchen and all of a sudden, I was there. In the kitchen. It was majorly weird." She finishes. She isn't frightened, I can tell that much, and I know what happened to her. I will tell her later.

"Thank goodness you're alright, Rose," Kimy says, her hands clasped in front of her mouth.

"Yeah, I'm fine, totally fine. Nothing to worry about." Rose says. Theta doesn't look convinced.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asks, still anxious.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just like I said." Rose pretends to look tired, "I'm gonna go change into dry clothes and stretch out somewhere."

Theta glances down at what she's wearing and blushes. She's wearing a small frilly two-piece swimming suit. What do humans call it? Oh, a bikini. It is the colour of my exterior with little golden swirls all over it. I picked it out specially for Rose. Created it in my databanks. I reflect on the time proudly. Theta's practically shouting his emotions at me. The lust and love he feels.

"O-okay. I'm just gonna… go back to… erm… fixing my sonic screwdriver… in the… erm… control room…" He stammers and walks past her, his neck and ears red as well. She sighs and follows him out, branching off towards her room where all her clothes are. Harkness and Kimy just stare after them.

"Do you have any idea what just happened?" The American girl says.

"None at all," The other American accent responds.

I am humming placidly, when in the Vortex, I hear something. It's not quite right. As if someone's projected it. Wanting me to hear it. I listen, and begin to worry.

_Where has she gone, she's no where near_

_The Doctor tries to find her._

_Not here nor there_

_Not anywhere_

_Where has he lost his flower?_


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Rose: TARDIS; Time Vortex

I lay down on my bed, pondering the exchange that has just occurred. I can't think, this room is too small. So, I jump up and run to the observation deck. I lay down again, in the middle of the floor, hands behind my head, ankles crossed, and stare out at the stars, thinking about what has just happened.

I know I did a thing, a thing I shouldn't be able to do. Like, teleportation. I teleported from the pool to the kitchen. I shouldn't be able to do that even if I'm a Time Lord. I think about what the Doctor was saying to me.

"_So where is she?" he demands._

"_Right here," I respond. He spins around in shock and confusion. I feel uncomfortable under his intense gaze and walk over to the rickety table. I put the tray down and jokingly tell him about how he can fix it. He strides over to me and engulfs me in a rib-crushing hug. I enjoy it even though I shouldn't._

I surface from the memories. I shouldn't have enjoyed the hug, not after what he did to me. Leaving me in London, by myself, no food, no money, just the clothes on my back. If he hadn't left me, I wouldn't have ended up with Sean, and wouldn't have been beaten half to death. I feel anger beginning to cloud my thoughts.

_His look of concern as he asks, "Are you sure you're alright?"_

If he truly cared about me, then he wouldn't have left me behind. With a start I realize that he probably didn't want me with him now. I had invited myself practically, leaning on him for support because I had been hurt. Waiting for him to rescue me. Anger turns to fury. I'm stronger than that, I realize. I don't need his protection. I don't need him.

My hearts tug as if trying to tell me that I do need him. But I don't. I'm a Time Lord too now. I don't need to use him as a crutch. My brain processes things just as quickly as his. I can run faster than him. I can teleport and he can't. I can do things that are impossible. My fury turns to rage. He had no right leaving me on that street corner and then, when he sees me again, letting me invite myself back into his ranks. He had _no right_ to look concerned about my teleportation. To look as if he was concerned about _me._ If anything, he was just concerned that I had started something impossible. He probably thought I had caused a crack in the universe or some such nonsense. He probably was more concerned about his own skin and his ship than he was me when I did my teleportation thing-y.

I jump up, rage coursing through my veins. Who does he think he is? He isn't God. He shouldn't be playing God. He will never be more than a lonely man with a blue box who takes people with him and kills them. Rose is dead. I can tell. I am not Rose anymore. And it's all because of him and his stupid God complex. I notice that there is someone in the room. My throat feels raw and I realize that all that I was thinking, I was shouting. Screaming to the heavens. Yelling out all my frustration and anger. In the large space, my rage bounced back at me, making me more angry.

I turn on the person in the room, and see that it's him. His eyes are shining with unshed tears. But I feel no remorse for what I have said.

"Rose-" he starts.

"What the hell do you want?!" I scream at him. Rose, nowhere to be found.

_He looks for her_

_But finds no sign_

_Of the girl she used to be_

_The clouds are here, there is no sun,_

_The Time War's only begun._


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The Doctor: TARIDS; Time Vortex; Observation Deck

I heard shouting and followed it to the observation deck. Rose was standing there, shouting at the top of her lungs, her eyes shut, her face screwed up in agony, rage, despair, and longing. She is shouting about how I left her. How she's better than I am. How she doesn't need me. How I'm not God. And then she says the killer line.

"He will never be more than a lonely man with a blue box who takes people with him and kills them!" She screams, "Rose is dead! I'm not Rose anymore! _And it's all because of him and his stupid God complex!_" Tears are streaming down her face. She spins around to look at me, unshed tears in my own eyes. Rage twists her features, her mouth screwed into a scowl, her forehead creased with lines, her eyes narrow. I take a quick breath, her eyes are golden. Time energy flowing in her eyes.

"Rose-" I start but she cuts me off.

"What the hell do you want?!" She screams, Rose, nowhere in the person who stands before me.

"I heard you yelling. And I came to find out why. What's the matter?" I ask, trying to stay calm.

"Oh, my God, you're really gonna ask that when you 've been standing there listening to me scream my hearts out?" She spits.

"I just want to understand-"

"There it is! There it is folks. The Doctor, the bloomin' God admits that he doesn't understand something. Well, now you can. You're what's wrong! You're always pretending that you care about me, and then you leave me on a freaking street corner in London without a penny to my name! If you hadn't left me there, the whole fiasco with Sean never would have happened. I could still have been happy. But now look what you've done! You pretend that you're God, all day long. Saving the universe! You think you're so much better than the rest of us! Even now! When you're not the only Time Lord in existence! You still think you're better than me! You think you're cleverer and smarter. But, news flash! We are exactly the same now. My processing speed is the same if not faster. I'm clever now too. And yet you still treat me like I'm you freaking _pet_!"

Something inside me snaps in desperation and fear of what is going on with Rose. But my voice comes out harsh and enraged, "We will _never_ be the same, Rose. I may not be as clever as I used to be or as physically fit, but we are _not _the same. Rose, when I brought you aboard I thought you would be happy. Happy that we were together again. But I guess not! Every day I live with the fact that _you_, Rose Tyler, are so-"

"So what, Doctor? Distant? Cruel? Upset? Well if the person you loved left you on a street corner in the middle of London, _to keep you safe_ supposedly, then you would be all of the above as well. Because, guess what? I wasn't safe. As much as you wanted me to be. I _wasn't_." She yells.

"Safe is _all_ I wanted you to be. I'm sorry you weren't safe, I thought you were. I forgot about how _cruel_ and _heartless_ humans can be! It isn't my fault that you were saddled with a sociopath!"

"Oh that's _rich_! Of all the times it _isn't_ your fault you think it is. But, when the time comes that something _is_ your fault, you say it's not. That's just _fantastic_!"

"Oi! No need to be rude!"

"No need…? _No need?_ If anything I should be rude because, apparently, it's the only time you'll actually listen to me!" Her face is red with rage, the time energy in her eyes flowering out and creeping along her face. Her veins are beginning to glow gold. And it scares me.

"Rose, I always-!"

"No! You _don't_, Doctor! You _don't _always listen to me. If you did, you'd understand how upset I am at being left behind! How lonely I was without anyone to talk to except my sociopath of a husband! How scared I was that I might not live another day! How sad I was that, other than my mum, there was no one in my universe that cared about me! Mickey was in the parallel universe, my friends began to dislike me for never spending time with them, Sean hated me, Howard didn't particularly like me, and I thought you didn't want me anymore! I was so _happy_ when you came, but then I realized that you didn't invite on board the TARDIS! I invited myself! So if you had just _listened_ when I tried to talk to you, you would understand! You didn't know how frightened I was when I was frozen. How confused I was when you told me I was a _Time Lady_! How terrified I was whenever I regenerated. But most of all, you don't understand how _petrified_ I am of losing _you!_" Her voice is glitching, echoeing in places. Ripping and breaking. Tears are flowing freely down her angry red cheeks. Veins all over her skin glowing a frightening gold.

"Rose! I didn't want to leave you! I never wanted to leave you! I just wanted you to be safe! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" tears are pouring out of my eyes too.

"If you could only comprehend a _little_ bit of what I'm feeling, then you'd understand! You can't stand there and apologize! You have no right to look sympathetic! You have _no idea_ what this feels like!" Fear flashes across her face, "I-I feel like I'm being ripped apart! Into a million pieces. My head! It hurts so much!" She isn't yelling anymore, she's almost whispering, "What- what do I do? I'm on fire! Please! Help me! _Please!_ Please help me! _HELP ME!_" She screams.

I run over to Rose, who has no doubled over. She's screaming a heart-wrenching, blood-curdling scream of agony. Her body is slick with sweat but I grab hold of her shoulders and force her to face me, "Rose! Rose don't leave me! _Rose!_" I shout.

A tremor ripples through her body. She is yanked out of my arms by the ragged force of her coughing. She is hacking, almost as if she is trying to cough up her troubles. After an enormous bark, blood splatters on the ground. I am horrified when she crumples to the ground. Her eyes are open and writhing in gold agony, blood trickles from the corner of her mouth down the side of her face. The gold crisscrossing her skin pulses with her heart beats. I can tell that her hearts are slowing down. Becoming infinitely slower. Until there I almost a minute in between eat pulse.

Jack and Kimy burst in, and see me on my knees, my hands stained red with Rose's blood. Kimy's face goes pale and Jack's colours.

"What have you done!?" Jack shouts.

"I haven't done anything!" I shout back, terrified, "I don't know what to do!"

Kimy turns slightly green at the sight of the blood spatter on the ground. She turns and flees the room.

Jack rushes over and begins using the hem of his swimming trunks to wipe up the blood still flowing. Rose is completely still, I watch in horror as her eyes slide closed.

"No! _No!_ Rose! Don't die! _Stop!_" I am screaming and shaking her. Jack looks at me with a helpless expression. He doesn't know what to do either.

"Rosie! Rosie, don't go! There are so many people here who care about you! You can't die!" Jack is crying too now.

Rose is so still in between us, when suddenly she jerks. She jerks and flails and writhes. Jack and I don't know what to do.

"She's going to hurt herself!" Jack shouts.

"We need to hold her down!" I shout back.

I grab her left wrist in my left hand, and hook my ankle around hers. I use my right hand to hold her head. Jack mirrors my actions on Rose's other side.

Her eyes fly open, the gold having overcome her brown, "_Stop."_ She says, her voice in the eerie echo that I have heard only once before.

Jack glances at me, a frightened look on his face. We both let go and slide away slowly.

Rose's head turns towards me, "_I am not Rose."_ She says.

"Then who are you?" I ask, my voice shaking.

"_You know who I am. We have met before. I am your human in TARDIS form."_

"What does she mean, Doc?" Jack asks.

"_I brought you back to life, Jack Harkness. I defeated the Daleks with a wave of my hand. I scattered the words over all of time and space. Leading myself to that moment. I waited dormant for years for this moment."_

"Doc?"

"_I am the Bad Wolf."_ Rose's eyes narrow in anger, _"And I recommend that you run, little Time Lord. For Rose is angry. And when Rose is angry, the Bad Wolf is furious. Run, Time Lord, run and hide in your TARDIS. For Rose is gone. Hidden deep within the recesses of her mind. I will not give you long to hide. Run."_

I jump up and Jack mimics my movements. We run out of the room, I motion to Jack, telling him to follow me. I pull out my sonic and open a panel of the TARDIS. We climb through and I shut it behind us. I pull us into an old console room, and we hide in there. As we sit, we hear faint strains of music. The Bad Wolf is singing. And I realize that we are going to be hiding for a long, long time.

_Tick Tock goes the clock_

'_til the Doctor finds the Bad Wolf._

_Tick Tock, goes the clock,_

_The Bad Wolf's here to stay._

**_End of Volume 1_**


	21. Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Tick Tock Goes the Clock: _Whatever Happened to Rose?_

_Tick Tock goes the clock_

'_til the Doctor kills his flower._

_Tick Tock, goes the clock_

'_til the Bad Wolf comes to play._

_The flower changed and_

_The Doctor played_

_And even though the TARDIS_

_Told them to stop_

_Or they will drop._

_No one listened to her._

_The TARDIS tried to protect them_

_And though they disregard her_

_She'll do her best_

_So hang the rest_

_The TARDIS cares for them._

_The Doctor runs and hides in fear_

_Of what his flower has become._

_He calls for help, but no one hears_

_He lost his precious flower._

_Where has she gone, she's no where near_

_The Doctor tries to find her._

_Not here nor there_

_Not anywhere_

_Where has he lost his flower?_

_He looks for her_

_But finds no sign_

_Of the girl she used to be_

_The sky is lost, the stars are gone,_

_The Time War's only begun._

_Tick Tock goes the clock_

'_til the Doctor finds the Bad Wolf._

_Tick Tock, goes the clock,_

_The Bad Wolf's here to stay._


	22. Disclaimer and Acknowledgments

Disclaimer:

I, authoress KHansen, do not own anything related to Doctor Who. Any ideas, characters, plots, and/or places used in my story are property of the British Broadcasting Company.

I, authoress KHansen, do not own the concept of personal teleportation by Rose as seen in chapter 19. Concept and title (to be used in future) of "hopping" is used with express permission of author AdventurousMind.

I'd like to thank BBC for creating Doctor Who, which gives so many people brilliant story ideas. And I'd like to thank AdventurousMind and any other authors whose ideas I have used, whether consciously as with the "Hopping" or unconsciously. If you see your idea in my story, it means I loved it so much that I decided to use it too.


End file.
